Published: Just now
Around 400 people have fled Kherson since Christmas Day following Russia’s massive attacks on the city, the BBC reports.
– I love Ukraine and my dear city. But we have to leave, says the fleeing Elena.
Joyful images were cabled in November from the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine after it was liberated from Russia after several months of occupation. Now hundreds of people are fleeing the city, which has been shelled repeatedly since the Russian retreat, and not least during the Christmas holiday.
– Before they fired at us seven to ten times a day, now it’s 70 to 80 times, all day long. It’s too nasty, says Elena, who is leaving the city with her three daughters, to the BBC.
Ukraine took control of the city of Kherson, located in the region of the same name in southern Ukraine, on November 11 after Russian military retreated across the Dnieper River. The town is still within range of Russian artillery and has since come under repeated shelling.
On Christmas Eve, around ten people were killed and around 60 were injured in over 40 attacks, according to Ukrainian authorities.
– We can’t stand it anymore. The shelling is so intense. We stayed all this time thinking it would pass and that we were lucky. But a house next to ours was hit and my father’s house was also shelled, says Kherson resident Iryna Antonenko to the BBC.