Dozens of Russian Troops Wiped Out by Fire

Dozens of Russia troops were reportedly killed in Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast on Monday, Ukraine's military reported, as clashes continue to intensify more than a month after President Vladimir Putin's forces retreated from the region's port city.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in an update on its Facebook page on Wednesday that its soldiers attacked enemy positions near Chaplynka in the Kherson region on Monday, killing about 50 Russian soldiers.

Days earlier, Russia forces shelled the city of Kherson, leaving at least 10 dead and dozens injured. Kherson was seized by Putin's troops in early March, shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

Kyiv officials expressed outrage on December 24, saying Ukrainians who were shopping for the holidays were killed in the attack.

"Dark Christmas Eve in Kherson. russian invaders attacked the unconquered city with heavy weapons. Seven people who went out for Christmas shopping were killed and 35 were injured. #russiaisaterroriststate," Ukraine's Ministry of Defense tweeted at the time, sharing images of burning cars and a blurred-out body.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of "killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure.

"This is not sensitive content – it's the real life of [Ukraine]. Kherson. On the eve of Christmas, in the central part of the city. It's terror," Zelensky tweeted. "The world must see what absolute evil we are fighting against."

The attack came more than a month after Russian troops were forced to abandon Kherson city in November, and 10 months since the start of the war.

Russia announced its withdrawal from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson on November 9. It became the first major region to fall to Putin's forces after the war began, and had been Russia's biggest military achievement of the conflict, in part due to its strategic location and proximity to Crimea.

Kherson is one of four territories that Putin illegally annexed in September following sham referendums.

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's Minister of Defense, called Saturday's attack "another war crime" committed by "Russian terrorists."

He tweeted that the attack is "revenge on its residents who resisted the occupation and proved to the whole world that Kherson is Ukraine."

Reznikov added: "Ukraine will be able to prevent such tragedies if it has more means of counter-battery warfare, more artillery and more long-range ammunition. Thus, russian murderers will be punished and driven out from Ukraine."

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added on Wednesday that Russia is continuing to shell settlements along Kherson's Dnieper River, leading to casualties among the civilian population.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment.

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