Some of its inhabitants Peninsula today began boarding minibuses and dozens of cars to leave the city to the south Ukrainejust hours before a 58-hour curfew went into effect there after a series of Russian attacks and before a widely anticipated Ukrainian counterattack.

Kherson, recaptured by Ukrainian troops from the Russian army last November after eight months of Russian occupation, is regularly under fire from across the Dnieper River, where Russian troops control part of the Kherson region.

Today, two villages in the Ukrainian-controlled part of this region were hit by four Russian guided bomb attacks that destroyed a church and 20 houses, the regional administration said. According to the latest reports, one person was injured in the attacks.

According to local authorities, 23 people were killed last Wednesday as a result of Russian shelling of the province.

The city is expected to have an unusually long curfew today. Reuters reporters saw residents flee in their cars and vans, while others remained in the city.

“No one will lock people in their houses, people will be able, if necessary, to go outside and go close to home to buy what they need,” said Alexander Tolokonikov, a spokesman for the regional military command. , Khersons.

“The curfew is introduced because law enforcement agencies are forced to conduct their activities in Kherson and therefore the city is closed for entry and exit,” he stressed.

Ukraine is expected to launch a counterattack within the next few days or weeks. Russia holds territory in eastern and southern Ukraine, which it seized after launching a full-scale invasion last February.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.