Cold adds to misery for Kherson residents as Russia continues to shell Ukrainian city
Russian troops continue to shell the Ukrainian city of Kherson, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November. The governor there said three people died in the latest attacks on the region.
Worsening cold as winter approaches is adding to the misery.
Three weeks after Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson city from nine brutal months of Russian occupation, residents are still in need of the basics, including heat. Warming stations have been set up around the city's main square – to help the people of Kherson survive.
People are also in need of contact with the outside world. A portable 4G cell phone tower was brought in so people could make calls.
And food aid is desperately needed, but there are risks in trying to get it. That hasn't stopped professors at a university in Kyiv from bringing in supplies for colleagues at Kherson National University who they hadn't been able to make contact with for months, because Russian soldiers controlled their lives so tightly.
Ever since their humiliating retreat, Moscow has been hammering Kherson relentlessly – part of Russia's wider, blistering onslaught of artillery fire and drone attacks unleashed since early October.
Russian shelling cut off power in much of the city on Thursday, just days after it was restored.
But people say they'd rather live without food, water or heat than live under Russian occupation again.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights commissioner, said in November that more than 3,000 crimes were committed during Russia's months-long occupation of Kherson, and 90% of them were war crimes, including rape, torture, and murder.
Chris Livesay and The Associated Press contributed to this article.