Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to be seized by Russian occupying forces at the beginning of the full-scale invasion with President Putin declaring the city part of the Russian Federation on 30 September 2022 after a sham referendum
Since Ukraine liberated the city on 11 November 2022, Russian troops have made a concerted effort to make civilian life in the city unsustainable through daily artillery bombardment. Despite the initial celebration and relief that Russian military forces had been ejected and were unlikely to return, the situation for residents has become dire. According to official reports, on New Year’s Eve, Kherson and the surrounding area were shelled at least 40 times, with rockets hitting civilian buildings and critical infrastructure. Russia’s repeated shelling of Kherson city has remained constant, with Russian shells striking two separate supermarkets, a train pulling into the station, a petrol station, and a park on 3 May 2023, killing at least 16 civilians. This trend of increased shelling in the city since November 2022 has also affected other civilian infrastructure. A previous CIR investigation found that damage to educational facilities had increased significantly since Kherson’s liberation.
According to data provided by Kherson’s City Council, despite the constant shelling, most medical facilities were still operational as of January 2023. There have, however, been further significant attacks since, damaging medical facilities in the city between February and April 2023, including repeated attacks on various locations. The continuous shelling of hospitals, maternity wards and rehabilitation centres could pose a risk to the sustainability and operability of the healthcare sector in the city.
CIR verified 17 incidents of damage to educational facilities since the Russian withdrawal from the city in the timeframe covered by this report. CIR has continuously monitored and verified the damage to civilian infrastructure since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including incidents resulting in the damage of medical facilities in every oblast across Ukraine, including Kherson Oblast.
This report is divided into three sections covering the dates 11 November 2022 (Kherson’s liberation) to 18 May 2023 (cut off date for intelligence used in this report), providing a thorough analysis of CIR’s verified information, to include:
- a brief overview of the data verified by CIR concerning the damage to medical facilities in Kherson city;
- an in-depth analysis of the seven verified cases of damaged medical facilities in the city;
- an examination of Russian firing positions specifically linked to the damage of Kherson’s Regional Cardiology Centre – one of the seven verified case studies.