6 Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian rockets as Putin speech makes an attempt to justify conflict

A barrage of Russian rockets rained down on the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson Tuesday, killing six folks as Vladimir Putin delivered a deranged speech justifying the battle and blaming the West.

Ukrainian officers stated the rocket assault additionally injured 12 folks, leaving swimming pools of blood on the bottom subsequent to a destroyed bus cease.

Among the many surviving victims was a 16-year-old woman who suffered shrapnel wounds to her face and limbs, a girl injured by ammunition fireplace in her residence and two individuals who had been harm in a parking zone, the Kherson Regional State Administration stated.

The explosion within the middle of town additionally decimated a number of storefronts, took down powerlines and shattered home windows on the alternative facet of the road.

Photographs shared on social media by President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the victims’ lifeless our bodies mendacity on the street surrounded by particles.

“This time of day it’s very crowded right here so there are in all probability many casualties,” a girl named Viktoria, who was ready for a bus, advised Reuters.

“It’s actually scary. Additionally they shoot the place we stay.”

Native authorities stated Kherson got here beneath fireplace from a number of rocket launchers because the Russian strongman delivered a state-of-the-nation handle describing Ukraine’s Western allies because the true aggressors.

Putin sought to justify the conflict, saying it had been pressured on Russia by the West.

“We aren’t combating the Ukrainian folks,” Putin stated. “The Ukrainian folks have turn into hostages of the Kyiv regime and its Western masters, which have successfully occupied the nation.”

He added: “They intend to remodel a neighborhood battle right into a part of world confrontation. That is precisely how we perceive all of it and we’ll react accordingly as a result of on this case, we’re speaking in regards to the existence of our nation.”

Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson area’s navy administration, stated there have been round 20 explosions within the metropolis, probably attributable to Moscow’s Grad-style rockets.

Russia didn’t touch upon Tuesday’s assault.

Moscow has denied intentionally concentrating on civilians, however cities throughout Ukraine have been devastated in missile and drone assaults, and 1000’s of civilians have been killed.

“The Russian military is closely shelling Kherson. Once more mercilessly killing the civilian inhabitants,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel. “The world has no proper to neglect for a single second that Russian cruelty and aggression know no bounds.”

Ukraine recaptured Kherson in November after eight months of Russian occupation, forcing Russian troops to withdraw from the one regional capital they’d captured since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Kherson and surrounding areas are actually beneath nearly fixed bombardment from Russian forces on the alternative facet of the Dnipro River.

With Publish wires