Russia shells Kherson, destroys shopping mall

A massive fire broke out at the Epicentr K shopping mall in Kherson following Russia’s artillery attack overnight on Feb. 3, the company’s press service reported.

There has been no information about the casualties yet.

Earlier on Feb. 2, Russian shelling destroyed a kindergarten in Zolota Balka in southern Kherson Oblast, according to the regional military administration. Earlier that day, Russia’s attacks also killed a woman in the village of Komyshany in Kherson Oblast.

Russian forces started shelling liberated areas of Kherson Oblast indiscriminately after withdrawing.

The U.K. Defense Ministry said on Feb. 1 that the Russian military likely aims to degrade civilian morale and deter potential Ukrainian counterattacks across the Dnipro River with its heavy shelling of Kherson and other settlements on the western bank, but the rationale behind the expenditure of strained ammunition stocks remains unclear.