▲ Kherson apartment building damaged by Russian artillery fire


15 people were killed and 35 others, including a child, injured in Kherson, the capital of the southern province of Kherson, which Ukraine recently recaptured from Russia, local authorities said on the 25th local time.



Galina Rugova, head of the Kherson Military Administration, said on Telegram that day, "Several houses and high-rise buildings were damaged by Russian artillery fire," AFP news agency reported.



Russia, which suffered the humiliation of retreating after eight months of occupation of Kherson, is bombarding Kherson every day as if it were retaliation, local authorities claimed.



Kherson authorities said at least 10 people were killed and 54 injured after Russian forces shelled Kherson 49 times the previous day.



Russian artillery fire in Kherson has resulted in double-digit deaths for the second day in a row.



As Russian artillery fire continues, authorities in Kherson are evacuating patients from hospitals to other safer areas.



It is said that child patients are being transported to Mykolaiu, and patients suffering from mental illness are being transported to Odessa.



Both are areas controlled by Ukraine.



Kherson is a strategic point connecting the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine, which was forcibly annexed by Russia in 2014, and the eastern Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk Regions) regions occupied by pro-Russian separatist forces by land.



After Ukraine and Russia fought a life-or-death battle over Kherson, most of the key infrastructure was destroyed as Russian artillery bombardment continued after Ukraine was recaptured.



Authorities in Kherson are concerned about the lack of heating, electricity and drinking water for local residents in the winter season, and are urging them to move to relatively safe areas such as the central and western regions.



Kherson's population, once approaching 300,000, is now down to around 80,000, according to the Associated Press.



President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address posted on Telegram that day, "We receive reports of attacks on the people of Kherson almost hourly."



President Zelensky strongly condemned the continued artillery bombardment by Russian forces, calling it an "act of retaliation".



(Photo = EPA, Yonhap News)