Six people lost their lives in a tragic shelling incident at a local market in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. The attack occurred around 09:00 (06:00 GMT) while Ukrainians across the nation paused to observe Defenders Day, an annual event commemorating the armed forces and those who have died in the ongoing conflict.
Local authorities reported that the shelling, which targeted an area near a market and bus stop, was likely carried out by Russian barrel artillery. A poignant image from local media showed a body lying next to boxes of fruit on the pavement. Although initial reports suggested that seven people had died, doctors managed to save one individual who had initially been presumed dead.
Kherson, once occupied by Russian forces after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November of that same year. However, the city remains perilously close to the frontline, with intense fighting continuing on the other side of the Dnipro River.
At 08:55 on Tuesday, people across Kyiv and throughout Ukraine observed a 10-minute silence to mark Defenders Day. In Kyiv’s Maidan Square, a small crowd gathered at a memorial, where Ukrainian flags and photos of fallen soldiers have been planted since the start of the invasion. Halyna, a grieving mother, held a photo of her 29-year-old son, Kostyantyn, who was killed in the Kherson region in July 2022. “He was a platoon leader, a junior lieutenant,” she shared with the BBC, holding back tears.
As the silence commenced, vehicles in Kyiv came to a halt, and people stood solemnly in the streets, creating a moment filled with sorrow and national pride. The Ukrainian national anthem echoed through the stillness, marking the somber occasion. It was around this time that the strike on Kherson took place.
In a separate incident, 21 people were reported wounded after Russian glide bombs hit residential and industrial areas in the city of Zaporizhzhia. Meanwhile, on the eastern front, Russian forces are pushing hard toward the center of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region, where only 107 residents remain. Delivering humanitarian aid has become nearly impossible, and all children have been evacuated from the bombed-out town.
As part of Defenders Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to those who have perished in the fighting, stating, “You sacrifice yourselves so that Ukraine does not have to be sacrificed.”
Yuliya, whose partner Bogdan served as an army medic during the siege of Mariupol, reflected on her loss. Bogdan was one of the victims of the July 2022 Olenivka prison explosion, which Kyiv suspects was a deliberate Russian attempt to cover up war crimes. Moscow, however, blamed Ukrainian missiles for the blast. Yuliya, now a single parent to their five-year-old daughter, said, “I need to be strong… What he did for us, everything we have now is because of him. He was protecting us.”
For many families across Ukraine, the act of remembrance is both public and deeply personal.