Kherson evacuates hospitals under relentless Russian bombardment

"It's revenge for those who lost," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said of Russia's attacks.

kyiv — As the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its 10th month, Russian artillery pounded the strategic southern port city of Kherson for two weeks after pulling out, killing at least 10 civilians and wounding dozens more — and on Friday, triggering a hospital evacuation.

Russian forces have shelled the city and its surroundings 49 times on Thursday and Friday, said the head of the Kherson regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevych. Thursday was one of the deadliest days since the Kremlin ordered its forces to retreat.

"Due to constant Russian shelling, we are evacuating inpatients in Kherson,” Yanushevych said. said. Pediatric patients were transferred to Mykolaiv, he said, while 100 patients from the regional psychiatric care facility were transferred to Odessa. Thursday that Russia began bombing in "revenge" after Ukrainian troops recaptured the city. said Zelensky. “This terror started immediately after the Russian army was forced to flee from the Kherson region. It's the revenge of those who lost."

ImageA Russian strike in the yards Kherson naval forces on Thursday.Credit...Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images

Several other civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed in explosions this week.< /p>< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, more than 6,557 civilians have died and around 10,000 more have been injured, according to a report released last week by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.The true toll is believed to be significantly higher.

March was the worst month murderer of the war so far.

And over the past month, as Russia has taken up defensive positions against Ukrainian advances in the south and north -is , Moscow has stepped up its aerial bombardment of energy infrastructure targets in cities and towns across Ukraine.

"Together we have endured nine months of full-scale war , and Russia has not found a way to break us, and will not find one," Zelensky said.

Ukrainian officials encouraged the residents of the Kherson region to leave for other parts of the country and began to run trains to and from the city to deliver humanitarian aid.

But Serhii Khlan, the deputy regional administrator of Kherson, said many of the 80,000 people who remain do not want to leave their homes despite the difficulties.

"They say : "We ...