Six civilians killed in Ukraine strike, Zelensky denounces Russian “terror”

Six civilians killed in Russian strike Tuesday morning near a market Kherson, in southern Ukraine, a new tragedy that comes as the country marks its “defenders” day.

Three women and three men died, and five injured had to be hospitalized, according to Ukrainian authorities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “the daily terror” that Russia has imposed on Ukrainians since the invasion of February 24, 2024.

In Kherson, the Russian army struck the city center around 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT), “probably” using artillery, hitting an area “near a market and a bus stop,” according to the prosecutor's office.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin published a video of the site on Telegram in which several bodies – including those of elderly women and men – can be seen lying in the sol.

“The occupiers hit the trading stands where Kherson residents were buying or selling products,” Mr. Prokudin said.

Crates of vegetables and a shopping cart lay abandoned, an AFP journalist noted. In places, the asphalt was still stained with blood.

Ania, a pharmacy employee, believed she had been “saved” by a safe, which had fallen on her head because of the explosion.

Ceremony at the Lytchakiv cemetery in kyiv, October 1, 2024 © AFP – YURIY DYACHYSHYN

Afterward, she noticed that the massive object had been dotted with “many holes”, as many impacts as she would have otherwise received herself.

A bandage on her forehead but her life saved, Ania nevertheless says she is “shocked”.

“All these people who suffered (from the attack), they worked here, they were salesmen. They were our customers, the people we knew”, she explained to AFP.

– Zaporizhzhia bombed –

The city of Kherson, which had a population of nearly 280,000 before the Russian invasion in February 2022, is the only regional capital to have been occupied by Russia at the start of the war.

It was then liberated with part of its eponymous region by the Ukrainian army in November of the same year but has since been de facto on the front line.

The city, on the banks of the Dnieper, is hit almost daily by Russian strikes launched from the other bank of the river.

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Several Russian bombings in Zaporizhzhia, also in the south of the country, left one person dead and 32 injured, including three children, according to the Interior Ministry.

Regional authorities released images showing a tall residential building with a damaged facade.

Russian forces used guided aerial bombs, which are highly destructive, according to the Ukrainian ministry.

In recent weeks, such weapons have been used repeatedly against the city.

– Commemorations –

In kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, traffic stopped around 09:00 local time on the main artery, to observe a minute of silence in memory of the soldiers killed in the war with Russia, as part of the national day of “defenders of Ukraine”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a ceremony at the “Wall of Remembrance” in kyiv, October 1, 2024 © UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE – Handout

The national anthem was played on the central Maidan square. Many Ukrainians got out of their cars and stood with their hands over their hearts.

Dozens of people, mostly women, gathered at a makeshift memorial on the square. Many wept as they held photos of soldiers.

President Zelensky and other leaders laid flowers at the Wall of Remembrance in memory of the fallen soldiers.

“Eternal memory to those who defended Ukraine at the cost of their lives!” said Mr. Zelensky.

– Russian advances in the East –

In a separate statement, he said he wanted to work “effectively” with the new NATO secretary, Dutchman Mark Rutte, who took office on Tuesday and reaffirmed support for Ukraine as a priority of his mandate.

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

Moscow, for its part, announced new gains in eastern Ukraine, where kyiv's forces have been struggling for months, claiming to have captured two new villages, including one located just 13 kilometers from the key city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov visited a command center in charge of the Pokrovsk area, according to his ministry, claiming to have captured 12 localities and 130 km2 during the month of September.

Russian troops have also advanced to Vougledar, another major city whose fall seems imminent, and are now “almost in the city center,” the regional governor acknowledged.

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