Star Metro - Deadly Russian shelling cuts off Kherson power

The UN's human rights chief set out evidence of what he said was Russian killings of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in the first months of the wary.

And the commander of Ukraine's armed forces warned they expected a fresh Russian attack on Kyiv early next year.

Despite Russia's humiliating retreat from the city in November, Kherson remains within the reach of Moscow's weaponry and thus under constant threat.

The deadly toll of the invasion has grown steadily since Russia's February invasion.

Thursday's strikes on Kherson killed two people, the deputy head of the president's office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.

The city that was the only regional capital held by Moscow was also left "completely without power", the regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said.

Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said a worker with the Ukrainian Red Cross was one of those killed.

"Red Cross works close to the frontlines helping people wounded and those no longer taking part in hostilities," she wrote on Twitter.

"It is imperative that its personnel and property are spared."

Denise Brown, who runs the UN's aid coordination organisations OCHA in Ukraine, also denounced Russian strikes.

"This deeply tragic event is yet another reminder of the horrific consequences of this war for civilians and the extraordinary risks front-line humanitarian workers take," she said in a statement.

Since being retaken by Kyiv, Kherson has endured an almost daily barrage of missiles, prompting local authorities to encourage evacuations.

- Summary killings -

UN rights chief Volker Turk said his office had documented the summary executions and direct killings of 441 civilians across just three regions of Ukraine from the start of Russia's invasion on February 24 until April 6.

The "actual figures are likely to be considerably higher" he said, adding: "There are strong indications that the executions... may constitute the war crime of wilful killing."

Beyond that initial period, Turk said his team had continued to document gross rights violations affecting both civilians and combatants, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence.

So far, he added, "accountability remains sorely lacking".

Ukraine's commander-in-chief General Valeriy Zaluzhny told British weekly The Economist they expected a fresh Russian assault on Kyiv in the early months of 2023.

"The Russians are preparing some 200,000 fresh troops. I have no doubt they will have another go at Kyiv," he said in the interview. They expected the attack any time from late January, he added.

- Blasts in Donetsk -

The strikes on infrastructure, leaving millions of Ukrainians without power, heating or water have become a regular strategy from Russia, with temperatures at near or below freezing around the country.

Having retreated from parts of southern Ukraine, Moscow's forces were engaged in fierce battles in the east, particularly in the Donetsk region.

In Donetsk, "the epicentre of the fighting remains the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions", deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar told a briefing.

"The enemy is hard to beat," Petro, a military unit chief in the area, told AFP.

"Staying on the frontline is very difficult. They sustain heavy losses, but so do we."

The Donetsk region has been partly controlled by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

On Thursday, separatist authorities reported "the most massive shelling since 2014" on the regional capital, also called Donetsk.

At least one person was killed and nine more injured in the strikes, Russian proxies said.

Along with Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, Donetsk is one of the regions Moscow claims to have annexed in votes denounced as a sham by Ukraine and the West.

The United Nation said Thursday that Ukraine had exported more than 14 million tonnes of grain under the Black Sea deal with Russia, easing global food prices, the United Nations said Thursday.

G.Boudreau--SMC