Fifteen civilians were killed on Friday during a Russian bombardment of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, an official in the city, from which Moscow troops were recently withdrawn, reported AFP.

Ukrainian military in KhersonPhoto: Ashley Chan/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

“Today, as a result of Russian strikes, 15 residents of the city were killed, 35 were injured, including a child,” the head of the city’s military administration, Galina Lugova, reported on social media. She said that as a result of the strikes, several private houses and high-rise buildings were damaged.

Patients from hospitals in Kherson are being evacuated due to “continuous” Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian city, from where Moscow troops were withdrawn two weeks ago, the governor said on Friday, AFP reports.

“Due to constant shelling by the Russians, we are evacuating patients from Kherson hospitals,” Yaroslav Yanushovych, head of the Kherson military administration, said on Telegram.

The bodies of more than 400 civilians killed during the Russian occupation were found in the Kherson region, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said on Thursday.

“The bodies of 432 dead civilians have been found,” Kostin said in an interview with Ukrainian television, without providing more detailed information, reports Agerpres.

In addition, 12 investigative teams investigating the heavily mined territory recently recaptured by the Ukrainian army discovered nine rooms known as torture chambers.

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine are a sign of President Vladimir Putin’s “desperation”, The Guardian reports.

Putin has targeted Ukraine’s electricity grid and other civilian infrastructure to “mask” his military failures, Wallace told reporters during a visit to a shipyard in Glasgow today.

He called on Ukrainians to “press the pace to continue pushing back Russia,” adding:

“On the civilian front, they have to protect that national infrastructure that Putin is deliberately targeting, hoping to destroy their economy and fight for the winter. Targeting civilian infrastructure is illegal under international law, he said, adding that Britain “will not allow such aggression and brutality to succeed”.

  • Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro