Russian forces attacked a railway station full of people in Kherson late on Dec. 26, killing at least one person and wounding four others, Ukrainian officials said.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported that about 140 people were waiting for an evacuation train from heavily shelled Kherson. A police lieutenant evacuating civilians from the attack site was killed, and two more police officers and two civilians were wounded by shrapnel, he added.
Since Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson and swathes of territories on the western bank of the Dnipro River in November 2022, Russia continues to heavily strike the city with artillery, tanks, drones, and air bombs.
Ukrainian railway monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia said that the civilians are waiting for the situation to stabilize before being evacuated on buses to Mykolaiv in the neighboring Mykolaiv Oblast.
"The situation is under control, and the railroad is ready to continue running," Ukrzaliznytsia said in a Telegram statement.
According to media reports, Russian forces had been attacking the Kherson area for a few hours late on Dec. 26. Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin earlier reported a civilian death at around noon in the village of Mykilske – about 20 kilometers northeast of the regional capital.
Since liberation, over 400 civilians were killed and over 1,700 wounded in and around Kherson, according to local authorities.