Liberated Kherson counts cost of Russian occupation

After two nights of jubilation following the liberation of their city,

- Lorenzo Tondo, Luke Harding, Isobel Koshiw 

the people of Kherson began to assess the extent of the damage wrought by eight long months of Russian occupation, with residents still without electricity and water.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russian forces had destroyed key infrastructure before retreating, while the mayor of Kherson said the humanitarian situation was “severe” because of a lack of medicine and bread.

The departing Russian troops also left behind thousands of mines, tripwires and unexploded shells.

Roman Golovnya, an adviser to the city’s administration, said: “Russian occupying forces and collaborators did everything possible to make people who remained in the city suffer as much as possible during these months of waiting.” The retreating Russians had destroyed all critical infrastructure including communications, electricity, water, heat, a 100-met re-tall TV tower and at least four bridges.

The Ukrainian authorities are trying to assess the damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam , on the Dnipro River, about 40 miles to the northeast, which the Russians attempted to blow up during their withdrawal. Satellite images show signs of destruction “with sections of the dam and sluice gates destroyed”. However, it is not clear if the structural integrity of the reservoir is at risk. With a water volume of 18.2 cubic km, if destroyed, the Kakhovka reservoir could flood a huge area, including the city of Kherson.