KYIV (Reuters) -Three people were killed on Sunday and 10 were wounded when Russian forces attacked a boat carrying evacuees from flooded occupied territory to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson, the regional governor said.
The area has been stricken by catastrophic flooding after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam which Kyiv and Moscow have accused other of deliberately blowing up.
“Three civilians died, ten more (people) were wounded, including two law enforcement officers,” said Kherson region’s governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.
In a statement on Telegram messenger, he said a 74-year-old man used his body to shield a woman from Russian fire and was hit in the back and died.
Prokudin’s statement did not make clear how Russian forces attacked the boat.
The incident was first reported by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak who said the boat had been carrying evacuees from flooded areas of occupied territory to the city of Kherson.
“The Russian army attacked a boat with civilians evacuating from the left bank of Kherson region,” Yermak wrote on the Telegram messenger.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the attack.
Russia denies targeting civilians. Its February 2022 full-scale invasion has killed thousands, uprooted millions and destroyed cities.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Ros Russell)
