Russian troops used automatic fire from rifles and flash-bang grenades to confront an anti-Kremlin crowd in the southern city of Kherson on Monday, March 21, injuring at least one man.
Images from the scene showed a man laying on pavement in a pool of blood in front of the Kherson regional administration building. Bystanders said that Russian Federation (RF) soldiers shot him.
Images from the confrontation showed a crowd of at least 200 unarmed civilians shouting pro-Ukraine slogans, as they walked towards RF military vehicles placed around the building perimeter.
Sounds of automatic rifle followed along with images of flash-bang grenades bursting among the demonstrators, who ran immediately. Other video showed men dressed in what appeared to be RF army uniforms chasing the protesters, while firing into the air.
Captured by RF forces in the fifth day of the war, Kherson civilians have turned out almost daily to protest against RF occupation. A last week attempt by Kremlin authorities to create a “Kherson’s People’s Republic” failed abjectly when RF forces were unable to find sufficient numbers Kherson officials willing to collaborate with RF authorities.
The probable shooting followed the reported Kherson gangland-style murder of Voldymyr Sal’do, an assistant to the former mayor of Kherson. According to the censor.net.ua news website and other major Ukrainian media, after RF forces entered the city Sal’do remained at his job and cooperated with RF forces. Images from the apparent Sunday ambush showed the driver’s side windshield of his private car riddled with between 20-40 bullet holes.
Ukrainian national authorities have passed law making official cooperation with RF authorities a criminal offense, and declared such collaborators enemies of the state and potentially subject to arrest or even assassination. It was not clear whether Sal’do’s shooting was state-sponsored, or carried out for other reasons.
