Russian strike kills six as Ukraine marks defenders day

Russian strike kills six in Ukraine market as nation marks troops' holiday; Zelenskyy acknowledges painful moments on path to victory.

A Russian strike on a southern Ukraine market killed six people on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) as the nation held a moment of silence to mark a major public holiday honouring troops, authorities said.

Debris, broken glass and bodies were strewn around a market in Kherson city, which lies on the western bank of the Dnipro River, a de-facto front line between Russian forces in the east and Ukrainian forces in the west.

The regional prosecutor’s office had reported seven killed, but later revised this to six, saying that doctors stabilised one of those presumed dead.

“Around 11:30 a.m. IST (0600 GMT) on October 1, Russian forces struck the centre of Kherson, allegedly with cannon artillery. The shelling took place near a local market and a public transport stop,” it said on Telegram.

Moscow’s troops withdrew from the capital Kherson in November 2022, retreating to the other side of the Dnipro, but they have kept up intense shelling of the city.

The deadly attack came as Ukraine held a minute of silence remembering the country’s war dead on defenders’ day, the third since Russia invaded in 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the army in a speech to soldiers, acknowledging that his troops had suffered “painful moments” on what he said was a “difficult” path to victory.