Ukraine war: Russian shelling kills one, injures four in strike on Kherson infrastructure

Russian shelling killed one and injured at least four in an attack on critical infrastructure in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, a local governor said.

An afternoon attack targeted the village of Bilozerka. The body of a man was found under the rubble, a man and three women were hospitalised, Oleksandr Prokudin, the local governor, said. “A critical infrastructure object was also destroyed. Now Bilozerka and surrounding villages are without electricity,” Mr Prokudin said on the Telegram messaging app.

A grocery store and houses were also damaged, he said. Images from the site shared by Mr Prokudin showed a one-storey building with shattered windows and damage to the walls, as well as several cars covered with traces of shelling.

Russian troops abandoned Kherson and the western bank of the Dnipro river late last year, but now regularly shell those areas from positions on the eastern bank.

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Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

Britain’s foreign secretary David Cameron, on his first trip abroad in his new role, met Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and also travelled to the southern port city of Odesa, a regular target of Russian air strikes.

Mr Cameron, a former British prime minister who was appointed foreign minister on Monday, stressed London’s continued support for Ukraine, now in its 21st month of war with Russia and with no end in sight.

“What I want to say by being here is that we will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support ... but above all the military support that you need not just this year and next year, but however long it takes,” Cameron said in a video posted by Mr Zelenskiy’s office on Thursday.

Mr Zelenskiy thanked Mr Cameron for his visit, which comes amid a conflict in the Middle East that the Ukrainian leader said had drawn global attention away from his country.

“The world is not so focused on the battlefield situation in Ukraine, and this dividing of the focus really does not help,” Mr Zelenskiy said.

The show of support comes as Ukraine is watching closely for any sign that vital western military and financial assistance for Kyiv is flagging after its much-vaunted counteroffensive against Russian forces failed to yield a major breakthrough.

Mr Cameron also held talks with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba who said on social media platform X that Britain “remains steadfast” in backing Ukraine’s efforts to counter Russian threats, including in the Black Sea.

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Ukraine has sought to carve out a shipping corridor for its seaborne exports after Russia in July withdrew from a UN-brokered deal that had allowed some food exports to flow despite the war.

On Thursday, the second day of his visit to Ukraine, Mr Cameron travelled to Odesa, the country’s major Black Sea port.

“In the last three months, [Ukraine’s forces] have pushed Russia back in the Black Sea and are opening vital sea trade routes for the Ukrainian economy and global food supplies,” Mr Cameron said.

Insurance broker Marsh, Lloyd’s of London insurers and Ukrainian state banks launched a facility to cut the cost of claims for damage to ships and crew transporting grain through the Black Sea corridor.

“This step will be of great importance for Ukraine’s export profits and economic recovery,” Cameron was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian foreign ministry.

Since the corridor’s launch in August, Ukraine was able to export 4 million metric tonnes of cargo, Zelenskiy has said previously.

Mr Cameron also announced financial support to communities directly affected by Russia’s invasion and volunteer organisations working in Ukraine.

Britain has been a close ally of Ukraine throughout the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022.

Elsewhere, Finland will close four of the nine crossing points on its border with Russia on Saturday to stem a flow of asylum seekers to the Nordic nation, prime minister Petteri Orpo said on Thursday.

Neighbouring Norway, which shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, is also ready to close its border at short notice if necessary, Norwegian justice minister Emilie Enger Mehl said.

Finland’s president said on Wednesday a rise in the number of asylum applicants arriving on the eastern border appeared to be Russian revenge for Finland’s defence cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by Moscow.

Finland, a European Union country whose accession to the Nato alliance this year after decades of non-alignment angered Moscow, shares a 1,340km border with Russia that also serves as the EU’s external border. – Reuters