Russian shells struck residential areas of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, killing a 91-year-old woman in what a local official described Monday as a “terrifying night” in the 20-month war that shows no signs of ending.
The overnight shelling set fire to a high-rise apartment building, blew out windows and reduced some apartments to rubble, according to video footage posted by Kherson Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin.
The woman died when an apartment wall fell on her, according to her daughter, who lived with her on the ninth floor.
The victim was one of three Ukrainian civilians killed in the east and south of the country over the previous 24 hours, with at least 12 people injured, Ukraine’s presidential office reported Monday.
On Monday afternoon, another Russian shell hit a public bus in Kherson, wounding seven people, Prokudin said. He published photos of a shattered bus with traces of blood on the floor.
Apart from reportedly fierce fighting at some points along the front line, which Ukrainian officials say stretches for more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles), the conflict appears largely deadlocked and focused on long-range fire.
The Kremlin’s forces are, however, making a renewed push in eastern Ukraine, including around the devasted city of Bakhmut, with attacks in several areas as Russian troops emerged from their deep defensive lines, said Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces.
Russia's layers of trenches and minefields in occupied parts of Ukraine have largely held back Ukraine's months-old counteroffensive, but going on the attack exposes the troops to Ukrainian fire.
The daughter of the woman killed in Kherson said the destruction caused by the missile blast enabled her to get out of the building alive.
“I don’t know how I would have gotten out if (the) doors hadn’t been blown out,” Nataliia, who gave no surname, told Radio Liberty. “I would have burned to death in there, too.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defenses intercepted all 12 Shahed drones that Russia fired at several regions overnight and two Kh-59 guided missiles, according to the country’s air force.
The Kremlin’s forces also unleashed a missile attack on a ship repair plant in the southern Odesa area on Monday morning. Two people were hospitalized, said the region’s governor, Oleh Kiper.
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Associated Press Writer Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
