Kherson was released more than a year ago. Now returning residents face advancing Russian forces

(CNN) — With streets full of broken glass and endless artillery barrages on the horizon, Kherson feels as if it is under some remote occupation.

It became Ukraine’s first major city two years ago when Russian forces moved in from Crimea. Nine months later the Kiev army liberated him.

However, as the war enters its third year, residents describe the shelling by Russian forces less than a kilometer across the Dnieper River as the worst incident to date.

Drones and artillery attack the city with remarkable frequency, suggesting that Russian forces are not suffering from the same ammunition shortage that Ukrainian forces say they are facing.

And despite the Dnipro being frozen between Ukrainian forces and the Russian offensive, parts of the river bank are covered in freshly dug trenches.

On the other side of the river, within sight, Russian troops are conducting almost continuous bombardments against the city of Kherson. (Credit: Anna-Maja Rappard/CNN)

Some of the explosions may have been caused by ongoing clashes near the small village of Krinki, which Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told his boss, President Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday as the village was essentially evacuated by advancing Russian forces. After which it has become quite important. ,

Ukraine vehemently denied the claim and President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Moscow “can only run a disinformation campaign.”

Drone footage released by Ukrainian forces shows the same Russian soldiers who raised their flag over Krynky fleeing the scene moments later.

However, the dispute and confrontation over Krinki has increased pessimism in Kherson. Repair workers joke that they have sealed window number 10,000 in a city where few buildings have glass intact.

Thousands of buildings have been damaged since Kherson was liberated from Russian occupation in 2022. (Credit: Anna-Maja Rappard/CNN)

CNN witnessed the fall of the vibrant, prosperous city, which was the only provincial capital captured by Russian forces during the first 72 hours of the war.

The city’s remaining streets seem haunted after two years of artillery battle.

At 4 a.m. Tuesday, three shells fell near the home of Hrigori, who did not want to give his last name. He said he believed the intended target was a nearby hospital.

The fact that he was hit by another bomb in early November now saved his and his wife’s lives.

Last year his bedroom was hit by shrapnel, forcing him to move into another room on his mother’s side of the house. That morning, shrapnel again entered his old, empty bedroom.

Almost continuous Russian bombing two years after the war has turned Kherson into a ghost town. (Credit: Anna-Maja Rappard/CNN)

“We managed to jump off the bed and hide,” he said. He said, “The Russians just want us to abandon Kherson, to force us to flee and to destroy the city.”

The bombings did not follow any pattern, he said, sometimes attacking the centre, sometimes the riverine peninsula. “They just take a square and shoot at it, and then they do it again,” he said. “You never guess.”

According to city officials, three civilians have been killed in shelling last week alone. A 39-year-old man died after being hit by shrapnel while preparing a roof on Saturday; A 67-year-old woman died in a park last Thursday; And a 19-year-old man died as well as a 14-year-old girl who was injured in a playground attack eight days earlier.

Just outside the city center, the peninsula is a desolate and empty place. There, where a strip of low-rise apartment blocks and industrial areas is separated from the rest of the city by a bridge and visible from Russian locations across the river. Residents say only 1,000 of the area’s original 30,000 residents remain.

Most are elderly, and about 50 people suddenly come together in the basement of an apartment block for a communal meal and a hot meal. The small broken windows of the underground kitchen are filled with sandbags.

Tetyana, a volunteer, said of the bombing, “Somehow we have become accustomed to it and adapted. Sometimes we don’t sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning.”

The religious service marks a rare moment of company, for many, after two years of dizzying changes around them. “I live alone,” said a woman who did not want to give her name. “This is my life… I’m used to being alone. I don’t mind.”

Before singing the hymn, the pastor leads a prayer asking the basics. “We were trying to stay warm, find bread, find food. We were coming together to get through these difficult times,” he said. “It’s a hard road for all of us. But we keep going.”

Many people in Kherson, especially the elderly, now rely on food donated to underground kitchens. (Credit: Anna-Maja Rappard/CNN)

The walk is more difficult for 78-year-old Sophia, the only survivor of seven siblings, who cries while walking on her walker to get a hot meal. He carries it in a box for his adult daughter and takes pride in feeding her. Those present at the aid center spread out into the courtyard in the hot sun and returned to their scattered and damaged homes.

Sophia despises the idea of ​​leaving Kherson and says her days consist of running between three different aid organizations. This is not a race of speed, but of perseverance. Recently, he said, a car ran over his feet as he painstakingly used his walker to cross a yard.

“I just want this war to end,” he said, and his words were interrupted by a distant explosion. “How strange is that? The sun is shining.” She looks around the ruined, garbage-filled garden. “Here, there were roses everywhere.”

Sofia passes through Kherson. (Credit: CNN)

The climb to her apartment feels excruciating: a series of breathless steps, holding the railing with both hands. At the top he is greeted by his tearful daughter Natalia, who wipes her eyes. These are small, invisible afflictions that ruin normal lives and make life painful, as Putin’s war enters its third year.

Sophia cries, “My eyes hurt… but I want nothing! Except the bright sunshine above my head.” Natalia answers: “And a calm sky.”

“Don’t cry, everything will be okay,” he tells his mother.

News comes only from Soviet-era radio and is rarely good. This Wednesday there were reports of a dispute around Krinki, just across the river. “Those bastards jumped on us…” Sofia said of the Russians. Natalia replied that she had heard that Krinky had already been taken.

“no they did not!” His mother replied. “I just found out they didn’t. It’s hard, there was an attack today. What’s left of Krinky? Just a normal town.”

Few civilians remain, or have been rescued, as the third year of war slowly engulfs battered Kherson.