Kherson Governor Urges Residents to Leave Amid Intensifying Russian Attacks
Residents of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson were urged on Thursday to leave the city as Russian attacks increasingly threaten electricity and heating supplies. Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram: “I am once again addressing the residents of Kherson, especially families with children and elderly people: if you have the possibility ... please leave.”
Prokudin described an “extremely difficult security situation” in Kherson, a city that had about 280,000 inhabitants before the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. “The enemy is intensifying its attacks every day on the region's critical infrastructure,” he said. “Last night, Russian forces again attacked Kherson's district heating plant with glide bombs ... the facility sustained very serious damage.”
He warned that Kherson “may find itself without electricity or heating not for hours or days but for a long period.”
Casualties and Damage Over the Past Day
According to the Kherson Regional Military Administration, 11 people were injured as a result of Russian shelling over August 22. Attacks struck 38 settlements, and Russian forces damaged 11 apartment buildings, 10 private houses, a gas station, a cellular communications tower, a store, a dormitory, warehouses, and private cars.
A separate report from the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration indicated that Russian forces attacked 43 settlements in the region, with seven people injured. That report listed the names of dozens of villages, towns, and the city of Kherson itself under enemy airstrikes, drone attacks, and artillery shelling.
The Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported that on August 24, a Russian drone attack in Kherson injured an 11-year-old boy in the Dniprovskyi District. The boy was hospitalized with blast injuries and an acute stress reaction, according to the Regional Military Administration. The prosecutor’s office said a pretrial investigation into a war crime has been opened.
In the Central District of Kherson, a drone strike struck a high-rise apartment building directly, injuring a 63-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman. They were diagnosed with blast injuries, closed head injuries, and concussions.
In the Stanislav community, shelling of Shyroka Balka killed a 76-year-old woman, according to the Kherson Regional Military Administration.
A shopping center burned down in Kherson’s Central District on August 22 as a result of a drone attack, as reported by Ukrinform earlier.
Evacuation Advice and Wider Context
Prokudin reminded residents that those wishing to evacuate to safer areas could contact the regional contact center at 0800 101 102 or 0800 330 951. Three people were evacuated from liberated communities in the region over the past day.
The intensifying attacks by Russia on critical infrastructure come as part of a broader pattern: Fort Russia and Ukraine have been ramping up long-range strikes for several months, increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure including logistics warehouses and oil and port facilities, as reported by France 24. Last winter, Russian strikes on Ukrainian power plants left millions without power and heat.
Kherson was under Russian control from March to November 2022. Russian forces are now positioned on the other side of the Dnipro River that borders it and regularly shell the city.