Kyiv, March 21 – Ukrainian forces said Russian troops used stun grenades and gunfire to disperse a rally of pro-Ukrainian protesters in the occupied southern city of Kherson on Monday.
Russia did not immediately comment on the incident. Moscow denies attacks on civilians.
Video footage showed several hundred protesters fleeing Kherson’s Freedom Square as projectiles landed around them. A loud bang can be heard and whitish clouds of smoke rise. Shots can also be heard.
“Russian security forces ran up, started throwing stun grenades into the crowd and started shooting,” the press service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.
At least one person was said to have been injured, but it was unclear how they sustained their injuries.
Reuters could not independently verify which weapons were fired.
The video showed some protesters returning to the square. A man in a black hat sauntered back, stopped opposite Russian troops, and stood alone, a small Ukrainian flag overhead.
The city of Kherson, a regional capital of about 250,000 people, was the first major urban center to fall into the hands of Russian troops after they invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Since then, groups of residents have regularly held rallies in central Kherson, protesting against the occupation and showing their support for the government in Kyiv by waving Ukrainian flags.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian authorities said members of the Russian National Guard arrested more than 400 people in the Kherson region for protesting the occupation. She accused Russia of wanting to set up a police state there. Continue reading
Russia is calling the war a “military special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from “Nazis.” The West calls this a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression to subjugate a country that President Vladimir Putin calls illegitimate. Continue reading
Reporting by Sergiy Karazy and Shane Raymond, writing by Alessandra Prentice, editing by Timothy Heritage and Janet Lawrence