Civilians flee Kherson after Russian attack on liberated city

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KHERSON, Ukraine — Hundreds of civilians poured out of the southern Ukraine city on Saturday after fleeing artillery shelling and celebrating its recapture weeks ago.

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Hundreds fled from Kherson as the country pays tribute to the millions of Ukrainians who died in Stalin-era famine and Russia’s war in Ukraine deprived people around the world of vital food exports. This was to prevent

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A line of trucks, vans and cars, towing trailers and carrying pets and other belongings, stretched over a kilometer outside the city of Kherson.

Days of heavy artillery bombardment by Russian forces prompted a bittersweet escape. Many civilians were happy that their city had been retaken, but lamented that they could not stay there.

“It’s sad that we’re leaving home,” Yevhen Yankov said as the van he stepped forward a little. I’m out, so I have to leave.”

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Svitlana Romanivna poked her head out from behind and added: Our neighborhood was on fire, it was a nightmare. “

Emily Foley, emergency project coordinator for Ukraine’s Doctors Without Borders, said the evacuation of 400 patients at Kherson’s psychiatric hospital, which is located near both the power plant and the front line, began Thursday and will continue for the next few days. Said it was planned.

Kherson is one of many cities facing heavy Russian artillery and drone attacks in recent days, and the shelling there has been particularly heavy. Elsewhere, the barrage primarily targeted infrastructure, although civilian casualties were reported. Repair workers across the country scrambled Saturday to restore dilapidated heat, electricity and water services.

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In the capital, Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky oversaw a busy day of diplomacy, invited several European Union leaders to a conference, and hosted the International Summit on Food Security to discuss food security and the country. discussed agricultural exports from

The Prime Ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania and the President of Hungary were present, and many others joined by video.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmykhal said Ukraine has allocated 900 million hryvnia (US$24 million) to buy maize for Yemen, Sudan, Kenya and Nigeria despite its own financial difficulties.

“Ukraine knows what hunger is and does not want people to die again in the 21st century because of Russia and its inhumane methods,” he told news agency Interfax.

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The reminder about food supplies was timely: Ukrainians marked the 90th anniversary of the start of the “Holodomor,” or Great Famine, as the Soviet government under dictator Joseph Stalin confiscated food and grain supplies. Deported many Ukrainians.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz celebrated the anniversary by drawing parallels with the impact of the war in Ukraine on global markets. Exports from Ukraine have resumed under UN-brokered deals, but they are still far from pre-war levels, pushing up global prices.

In a video message, Scholz said, “Today, we unite to declare that hunger must never be used as a weapon again. “That is why we cannot tolerate what we are seeing. The worst global food crisis in years, with dire consequences for millions of people from Afghanistan to Madagascar, the Sahel to the Horn of Africa.”

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He said Germany, along with the UN’s World Food Programme, would provide another €15 million for further grain shipments from Ukraine.

Scholz said a bipartisan group of German parliamentarians is about to pass a parliamentary resolution next week recognizing the famine of the 1930s as “genocide.”

Last year, Ukraine and Russia provided about 30% of world exports of wheat and barley, 20% of corn and more than 50% of sunflower oil, the United Nations said.

In a post on Saturday’s Telegram social network, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said more than 3,000 experts from the local power company will continue to work “around the clock” to restore heat to more than 90% of the houses. said he succeeded in About a quarter of Kyiv’s residents remained without electricity, but running water was supplied to everyone in the city, he said.

A scramble to restore power ensued when Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Cruz met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday.

“This could be a harsh winter,” he said, hinting at military aid such as the contribution of Belgian generators, support for Ukrainian schools and hospitals, and “fuel, machine guns, propellant artillery, etc.”

“And I hope that by standing here, I can offer everyone hope and resilience to get through this difficult time.”

Keaten reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.