Police Officer Killed by Russian Strikes in Kherson, Officials Say

A Ukrainian police officer was killed and at least three people were injured as Russian strikes targeted a transportation company in the southern city of Kherson on Monday morning, October 2, according to Ukrainian officials.

Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko named the officer as 38-year-old patrolman Vitaliy Novitskyi and said he died from injuries sustained when his patrol car came under enemy fire. A second police officer was injured, Klymenko said. Novitskyi was survived by his parents, wife, and eight-year-old son, Klymenko said.

The morning strikes came after Governor of Kherson Oblast Oleksandr Prokudin reported that overnight bombardments had injured two sisters, aged 12 and 13, and damaged “residential buildings, shops, a workshop, a kindergarten, a gymnasium, a gas pipeline, a business center, a humanitarian headquarters, a church and an ambulance station” in Kherson, according to a Google translation of a statement posted on his Telegram channel.

This footage from Kherson’s regional government first shows the aftermath of the morning strikes next to Kherson’s main bus station. From 43 seconds, the footage shows damage to homes, businesses, and the Holy Trinity Cathedral in central Kherson. Credit: Kherson ODA via Storyful