'A humanitarian catastrophe' as Ukraine counts the cost of Russia's Kherson retreat
After celebrating the liberation of Kherson -- which brought jubilant people to the streets of several Ukrainian cities -- officials are now warning of an unfolding humanitarian disaster.
Ukrainian police have returned to the streets of the southern city, along with TV and radio services, but officials have described a "catastrophe.”
Humanitarian aid supplies have begun to arrive from neighbouring Mykolaiv region but an adviser to Kherson's mayor, Roman Holovnya, said the remaining residents lack water, medicine and food: and key basics like bread went unbaked because of a lack of electricity.
The Russian retreat represented a significant setback for the Kremlin some six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the Kherson region and three other provinces in southern and eastern Ukraine in breach of international law and declared them Russian territory.
The national police chief of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, said Saturday on Facebook that about 200 officers were at work in the city, setting up checkpoints and documenting evidence of possible war crimes. Police teams also were working to identify and neutralize unexploded ordnance and one sapper was wounded Saturday while demining an administrative building, Klymenko said.
Ukraine’s communications watchdog said national TV and radio broadcasts had resumed and an adviser to Kherson’s mayor said humanitarian aid and supplies had begun to arrive from the neighboring Mykolaiv region.
But the adviser, Roman Holovnya, described the situation in Kherson as “a humanitarian catastrophe.” He said the remaining residents lacked water, medicine and food — and key basics like bread went unbaked because a lack of electricity.
“The occupiers and collaborators did everything
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