Russian troops struck energy infrastructure in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast as a "provocation," leaving residents of the Russian-held city of Kakhovka without gas, electricity, and water supply, said Yurii Sobolevskyi, the first deputy head of the Kherson Oblast Council, on March 21.
Kakhovka is a port city located on the east bank of the Dnipro River, which was home to around 34,750 citizens before the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russian troops have occupied Kakhovka since the all-out war started. Russian forces regularly shell Ukrainian cities and villages from the occupied part of Kherson Oblast.
Sobolevskyi called the latest Russian attack "a provocation," as Russian proxies alleged that Ukraine's Armed Forces conducted the strike.
"Ukrainian army strikes only military targets. And leaving people without the necessary living conditions – this is namely the Russian army's habit," Sobolevskyi wrote on Facebook.
After Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank in 2022, Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories, regularly resulting in civilian deaths as well as large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure.
As of the morning of March 21, two people were killed and four injured due to Russian attacks over the past day in Kherson Oblast. Russian troops struck 12 cities and villages, including the regional center of Kherson.
Nate Ostiller
