Kherson defies Russian occupation: citizens hung the Ukrainian flag again at City Hall

The huge Ukrainian flag flew again this Thursday on the frontis of Kherson City Hall, a southern city that was occupied by Russian troops in early March and which has seen numerous signs of rejection, in the midst of an increasingly serious humanitarian crisis.

“On the night when the city council was shot, the rope on which our state flag was held broke. Yes, it was time to replace the flag itself - it burned and burned,” wrote the mayor of the city, Igor Kolykhaev, on his Facebook account.

“It wasn't good like that. Today we had the opportunity to hang a new one. Have a nice day my hero city! ”, he wrote.

Russian troops have made progress in smaller cities and close to the borders. But even in them, they have not been able to establish total domination.

Kherson is on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe, denounced the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

“The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly. The city critically lacks food and medical supplies due to the siege. Newborns, who lack nutrition and child hygiene products, and critically ill patients constitute the population at special risk,” the ministry said in a statement.

He claims that “Russian invaders retaliate against the residents of the city” and recalls that on Monday they opened fire on peaceful protesters in Freedom Square, injuring an elderly man.

The ministry adds that “around one hundred international students, mainly from African countries, are currently in Kherson.”

“Despite the efforts of the Government of Ukraine and international humanitarian organizations, the Russian Federation continues to refuse to create a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of food. The city is approaching a humanitarian catastrophe every day that passes,” the statement said.

The city, with nearly 300,000 inhabitants, is located next to the Dnieper River and on the shores of the Black Sea, and is a strategic point in the Russian offensive launched on 24 February, due to its proximity to Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

(With information from EFE)

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