Ukraine war: Deadly attack leaves retaken Kherson with no power

Two people have been killed, say Ukrainian officials, in a second day of Russian attacks on central Kherson, recaptured by Ukraine last month.

Heavy shelling on critical infrastructure in the port area left the entire city without power, according to the regional governor.

The retreat of Russian forces from Kherson was one of Moscow’s biggest setbacks since the February invasion.

For weeks it has targeted power facilities in Ukrainian cities.

Millions of Ukrainians have been left without heating or power as winter temperatures have fallen below freezing.

Shells reportedly landed 100m (328ft) from the main administration building in Kherson city, officials said, a day after the building itself was badly damaged. A 32-year-old paramedic and a 70-year-old man were killed in the attack which hit a medical aid point, Ukrainian media said.

Explosions also went off in Ukraine’s second biggest city Kharkiv. Mayor Igor Terekhov said Russia was shelling infrastructure facilities and appealed to residents to stay in shelters if possible.

UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk warned that Russia’s attacks were exposing millions of Ukrainians to “extreme hardship” and further attacks on power facilities could “lead to a further serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation and spark more displacement”.

Meanwhile, Russian-backed proxies said Ukrainian forces had launched their “most massive strike” on the centre of occupied Donetsk since 2014, when the separatists triggered a conflict by seizing parts of the Donbas region.

Russian-appointed official Alexei Kulemzin said 40 rockets were fired, killing one person and leaving nine more wounded.

Details of the attack could not be confirmed, but Mr Kulemzin posted pictures of damaged buildings in the city.

In his speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk said the war had left 18 million people in need of humanitarian aid. He gave details of summary executions of civilians by the Russian military between February and April, including the infamous murders in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to EU leaders on Thursday to help defeat “Russia’s energy terror”, by maintaining Ukraine’s energy supply with around 2bn cubic metres of gas and electricity worth about €800m (£697m; $851m) worth of electricity.

In the past six months he said Ukraine had achieved tangible victories and had begun building an air shield for Ukraine. The capital Kyiv was also targeted by 13 drones on Wednesday, the president said, but the military had been able to repel it.