Russian shelling kills six in Kherson; Finland to blockade Russian borders

Russian shelling killed six people and injured at least 10 in various parts of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson over the last 24 hours, local officials confirmed.

Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced on Telegram Friday that Russian forces attacked residential areas of the central and Dnipro districts of the region.

“Over the past day, the enemy launched 58 attacks, firing 347 shells from mortars, artillery, Grads, tanks, UAVs and aircraft. The enemy fired 43 shells at the city of Kherson,” Prokudin said, according to a translation.

“The Russian military targeted the residential quarters of the populated areas of the region; administrative buildings and a store in the Kherson district; a medical institution, a shop, gas stations and a car wash in Kherson. As a result of Russian aggression, 6 people died, 10 more were injured, including 1 child.”

Fierce fighting has erupted between Russian forces and Ukrainian units that crossed over the Dnipro River to the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the river in the southern Kherson region.

Battles are concentrated around a number of villages on the east or left bank of the river where Ukraine has managed to establish several footholds, but Russian forces are now reported to be pounding those positions.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force said Friday that it shot down nine out of 10 Russian drones over the Mykolayiv and Odesa regions in the southern Ukraine, the central Zhytomyr region and the Khmelnytskyi region in the west.

In Washington, an emergency aid package for Israel and Ukraine is in limbo after the U.S. Congress closed its doors for two weeks on Thursday. President Joe Biden’s administration had urged Congress to approve the package last month, but it continues to face resistance from some portions of the Republican Party.