Ukraine war: Kherson curfew and river ban in security crackdown

After scenes of joyousness successful recently liberated Kherson the Ukrainian authorities person imposed a curfew and restricted question successful and retired of the city, arsenic the information concern remains tense.

There are fears that Russian troops, present digging successful connected the other slope of the Dnipro river, whitethorn resume shelling.

Kherson officials person banned usage of stream transport from 13 to 19 November.

Locals who fled person been warned not to instrumentality until their homes person been checked for mines oregon booby traps.

Russian explosives litter the region.

"The force mined each captious infrastructure objects," said Kherson politician Yaroslav Yanushevych.

He has told citizens to debar crowded places and enactment distant from the metropolis centre connected Monday due to the fact that the subject volition beryllium de-mining there.

The overnight curfew runs from 17:00 to 08:00 (15:00 to 06:00 GMT). Officials person returned to tally Kherson's medication aft the retreat of immoderate 30,000 Russian concern troops.

There are besides fears that immoderate Russian soldiers whitethorn person remained down successful disguise, portion collaborators who helped the Russians during the concern are present liable to beryllium prosecuted.

In a reminder of the continuing threat, a volley of artillery occurrence deed the country of Kherson airdrome connected Sunday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russians had destroyed each captious infrastructure successful Kherson, depriving the metropolis of heat, electricity, h2o and communications.

Gradually indispensable supplies are arriving successful Kherson, Ukrainian officials say.

Governor Yanushevych has announced a organisation of firewood to residents of Kherson and adjacent areas, instructing them to petition it with their ID and interaction details. The metropolis assembly besides plans to manus retired 6,000 tiny stoves to section residents.

"Most houses person nary electricity, nary h2o and problems with state supplies," said Yuriy Sobolevskiy, a elder assembly official.

Kherson's liberation connected Friday was marked by crowds of flag-waving Ukrainians greeting Kyiv's soldiers with hugs and kisses. The celebrations continued connected Saturday.

Ukrainians spot it arsenic a large nationalist triumph and humiliation for the Kremlin, connected a par with the Russian withdrawal from the Kyiv suburbs successful March.

Ukrainian officials accidental determination was wide looting by the Russian army. The level of theft has triggered mockery by Ukrainians since a video clip surfaced showing a Russian worker picking up a raccoon by its process and throwing it into a cage wrong an enclosure - reportedly successful Kherson zoo.

The raccoon meme has gone viral connected societal media, with Ukrainians turning the raccoon - allegedly a captive of the Russians - into a warfare hero.

Ukrainians joked astir a connection connected Telegram by a Russian blogger, Anna Dolgareva, which said: "I was begged to supply immoderate bully quality astir Kherson, but truly the lone bully quality is that my person managed to bargain a raccoon from Kherson zoo."

According to Oleksandr Todorchuk, laminitis of the carnal payment foundation UAnimals, "the raccoon from Kherson zoo was stolen not conscionable by immoderate anserine soldier, but by the Russian command". In a Facebook post, helium said: "They took astir of the zoo's postulation to Crimea: from llamas and wolves to donkeys and squirrels."

Kherson was the lone determination superior to beryllium captured by Russia since the February penetration of Ukraine.

The region, on with 3 others, was proclaimed by President Vladimir Putin to beryllium portion of Russia, astatine a ceremonial successful the Kremlin successful September.

Among the Russian forces warring successful Ukraine is the mercenary radical Wagner, whose laminitis Yevgeny Prigozhin praised the brutal sidesplitting of a alleged "traitor", shown being attacked with a sledgehammer successful a video which went viral connected Sunday. It has not been independently verified.

The unfortunate identified himself arsenic Yevgeny Nuzhin and the video - titled "the Hammer of Revenge" - was released connected a Telegram transmission called Grey Zone, reportedly linked to Wagner.

Seconds earlier the hammer blows, Nuzhin appeared with his caput taped to a ceramic and said helium had deserted to the Ukrainian broadside "to combat the Russians", but had been kidnapped successful Kyiv connected 11 November.

In an earlier YouTube video, Nuzhin described to Ukrainian writer Yuriy Butusov however Wagner had recruited him successful a Russian prison, on with different inmates.

Commenting connected the video, Mr Prigozhin called it "a dog's decease for a dog" and said Nuzhin was a "traitor" who "didn't surrender, but planned his ain escape".