KHERSON: Utility companies in Kherson were working to restore critical infrastructure mined by retreating Russian forces, with most homes in the southern Ukrainian city still without electricity and water, regional officials said on Sunday.
The governor of Kherson region, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said the authorities had decided to maintain a curfew from 5 pm to 8 am and ban people from leaving or entering the city, as a security measure. “The enemy mined all critical infrastructure objects,” Yanushevych told Ukrainian TV. “We are trying to meet within a few days and (then) open the city,” he said, adding that he hoped mobile phone operators could start working on Sunday.
Ukrainian troops arrived in the centre of Kherson on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since its attack began in February. The withdrawal marked the third major Russian retreat of the war and the first to involve yielding such a large occupied city in the face of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive that has retaken parts of the east and south.
The head of Ukrainian state railways said train service to Kherson was expected to resume this week. Another regional official said, however, that while mine clearance was underway and authorities were working to restore critical services, in humanitarian terms the situation in the city “remains very difficult”.
“Most houses have no electricity, no water and problems with gas supplies,” Yuriy Sobolevskiy, first deputy chairman of Kherson regional council, told TV. — AFP
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