It's a 'Humanitarian Catastrophe' in Kherson

There was celebrating in the streets after Russia withdrew from Ukraine's Kherson region, but the New York Times reports that a "humanitarian disaster looms." The city of Kherson is mostly lacking heat, water, power, and cellphone service; food and medicine are also scarce. And with Ukrainian military officials deeming the city not yet secure enough for large-scale relief efforts, one official referred to the situation as "a humanitarian catastrophe." Authorities are working to restore the infrastructure, but it will be a massive effort, the Wall Street Journal reports. "There’s a critical lack of water in the city. There’s a lack of medicines, there’s a lack of bread, because it can’t be baked as there’s no electricity," an adviser to the mayor says.

Meanwhile, Russian forces are still fighting Ukrainian troops on the city's outskirts, and Russian news outlets on Saturday published a video they claim shows an explosion near the Kakhivska hydroelectric power plant, about 40 miles from Kherson. Some outlets claimed Russian forces had attacked the critical dam complex it's part of, while other outlets blamed Ukraine. With Russian troops still within artillery range of Kherson, locals and officials remain worried even as the celebrations continue. One member of the Ukrainian military who also serves in Parliament warned that Kherson could be bombed in retaliation by Russia: "They will shell the city."

And Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of war crimes in Kherson, saying civilians were killed, Reuters reports. "Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes. Bodies of dead civilians and servicemen have been found," Zelensky said Sunday night. "The Russian army left behind the same savagery it did in other regions of the country it entered." The claims have not been independently verified. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)