2 dead in Kherson while soldiers celebrate Orthodox Christmas on the front line

Posted 5:29AM on Sunday 7th January 2024 ( 4 months ago )

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was subjected Sunday to numerous shelling attacks from Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson region, across the Dnieper River, local officials said.

The head of the Kherson city administration, Roman Mrochko, said two people died in the attacks and several others were wounded.

Air defense shot down 21 of 28 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday. Russia also launched three anti-aircraft missiles against Ukraine.

On an unannounced visit to the country this weekend, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pledged Japan’s continued support for Ukraine. Speaking at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Sunday, she said that Japan had decided to “contribute $37 million to the NATO trust fund to provide drone detection systems,” according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

In Russia, more than 100 residents of the Russian border city of Belgorod have evacuated to an area further away from Ukraine, local officials said.

“On behalf of the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, we met the first Belgorod residents who decided to move to the safest place. More than 100 people were placed in our temporary accommodation centers,” Andrey Chesnokov, head of the Stary Oskol district, some 115 kilometers (71 miles) from Belgorod, wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod on Dec. 30 killed 25 people, officials there said, with rocket and drone attacks continuing throughout this week.

Meanwhile, Russian military personnel marked Orthodox Christmas on Sunday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that military priests led prayer services on the front line both on Sunday and on Christmas Eve night.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was joined by families of military personnel who died in the war in Ukraine at Christmas Eve services at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence, in the western suburbs of Moscow.

“Many of our men, our courageous, heroic guys, are warriors of Russia even now, during the holiday — with arms in hand, they defend the interests of our country,” he said to the attending families, according to the Kremlin’s press service.

In his annual Christmas interview, carried by Russian state news agency TASS, Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, made reference to the war in Ukraine.

“The trials that befall us today ... are not capable of crushing our worldview, which directly includes love for the Motherland and readiness to defend it,” he said, when asked how to reassure Russians in the midst of military and civilian deaths.

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Morton contributed from London.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk Foma (Nikolay Mosolov), foreground, kisses an icon as Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, stands near after attending an Orthodox Christmas service with the families of military personnel who died during the special military operation in Ukraine in the Church of Our Savior Not Made by Hands at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk Foma (Nikolay Mosolov), left, pose for a photo with the families of military personnel who died during the special military operation in Ukraine at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, A Russian Orthodox Church priest conducts an Orthodox Christmas service for servicemen on a mission during a special military operation in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Orthodox Church Press Service, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, center, delivers the Christmas service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions celebrate the holy day on Sunday. Jan. 7, 2024. (Oleg Varov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Orthodox Church Press Service, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, center left, delivers the Christmas service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions are celebrating the holy day on Sunday, Jan. 7. (Sergey Vlasov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Orthodox Church Press Service, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, center, delivers the Christmas service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions celebrat the holy day on Sunday. Jan. 7, 2024. (Oleg Varov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Orthodox Church Press Service, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, center, delivers the Christmas service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions celebrate the holy day on Sunday, Jan. 7. (Oleg Varov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Orthodox Church Press Service, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, background left, delivers the Christmas service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions arecelebrating the holy day on Sunday, Jan. 7. (Oleg Varov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP)

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba guides Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, right, along a corridor of a bomb shelter during air alert in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, left, speaks to the media during a press conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa leaves after speaking to the media during a press conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

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