A man was killed and several others injured in Kherson Oblast on Dec. 8 following Russian drone attacks, local authorities reported.
A 73-year-old man in a town of Kindiika close to Kherson died after explosives were dropped from the drone, while four others, including a 40-year-old woman, a 79-year-old woman, and two men aged 42 and 59, were wounded. In Kherson city, three men, aged 55, 56, 62, and were also injured in the attack.
Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin confirmed the fatalities on Telegram.
Kherson Oblast is a frequent target of Russian attacks aimed to to terrorize civilian populations, with experts suggesting these strikes may serve as experiments for refining drone tactics and operator skills.
On Dec. 1, Russian strikes killed three people and injured eight. A few days after, on Dec. 4, another attack killed two people and injured five.
These attacks follow recent developments at the Ukrainian front line, where military forces are locked in a battle over small islands in the Dnipro River.
Control of the islands would allow Moscow to intensify attacks on the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
On Dec. 4, Prokudin suggested that Russia was preparing for another offensive toward Kherson, hinting that that front may be about to heat up.
The Kyiv IndependentKhrystyna Zhevlakova