Against the Russian occupier.
A demonstration by civilians in Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine occupied by Russian forces, was dispersed on Monday by automatic weapon fire, stun grenades and tear gas, which injured at least one person, according to Ukrainian officials.
“In Kherson, the occupiers fired at people who had come out peacefully, unarmed, to protest.
For freedom, for our freedom, ”said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video this Tuesday at dawn.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba meanwhile denounced on Twitter "Russian war criminals (who) opened fire on unarmed people who were peacefully demonstrating against the invaders".
“Glory to Ukraine!
»
Video footage released by local media shows protesters marching towards the center of Freedom Square chanting "Glory to Ukraine!"
», and at the same time soldiers go to meet them before opening fire.
Today Russian criminals attacked peaceful protesters in #Kherson.
There would be injuries.
I still cannot accept that the world allows this to be done to an independent nation of 40 million people in the middle of Europe.
pic.twitter.com/QL7zmnIqcr
— inna shevchenko (@femeninna) March 21, 2022
Videos taken from at least two different angles then show the flight of several dozen demonstrators under heavy fire.
They were broadcast on social networks by two local media, Souspilné Novini and Most Kherson.
There is no indication from these images that the automatic weapons fire was aimed directly at the demonstrators or caused any casualties.
A Kherson regional council official, Yuriy Sobolevsky, said on his Facebook page that Russian forces dispersed the crowd by "firing in the air" and using "gas, flares and stun grenades", causing several "victims".
A casualty
One of the videos shows an elderly man being transported with a bloody leg.
"The pensioner was seriously injured in the leg, he lost a lot of blood" and was hospitalized, said Mr. Sobolevsky.
“Despite everything, the demonstrators did not disperse!
And tomorrow they will gather again!
said this official.
In his tweet, Dmytro Kouleba called for "stopping Russia", isolating it, sanctioning it and making "war criminals accountable".
VIDEO.
In Kherson, residents demonstrate against Russian soldiers
Kherson, close to Crimea annexed by Moscow in 2014, is the first large city (more than 200,000 inhabitants) seized by Russian forces after their invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
It has since been the scene of regular demonstrations by its inhabitants against the occupier.
A large gathering on Sunday March 13 was the subject of what appeared to be warning shots.