Current:Home > ScamsRussian shelling kills 4 as Ukraine prepares to observe Christmas on Dec. 25 for the first time-LoTradeCoin
Russian shelling kills 4 as Ukraine prepares to observe Christmas on Dec. 25 for the first time
View Date:2024-12-24 00:37:16
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region killed four people Sunday, including an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife who died after a strike on their apartment building.
The barrage injured nine other people, including a 15-year-old, sparked fires in homes and at a private medical facility, and set a local gas pipeline alight, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said.
“There are no holidays for the enemy,” Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, wrote on social media, commenting on the Kherson attack. “They do not exist for us as long as the enemy kills our people and remains on our land.”
The shelling across Kherson reached the center of the region’s capital city of the same name. The assault took place as Ukraine prepared to officially celebrate Christmas for the first time on Dec. 25, having previously marked the date on Jan. 7.
Some Orthodox Ukrainians observed Christmas on Dec. 25 last year in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church observes the birth of Jesus on Jan. 7.
The cathedral in the Monastery of the Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Kyiv, held its Christmas celebration on Jan. 7 of this year, but the service was held in the Ukrainian language for the first time in the 31 years of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed legislation in July moving the public Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25. although one of Ukraine’s two competing Orthodox church organization’s is sticking with the January date dictated by the Julian calendar. To mark Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, Zelenskyy addressed the nation in a video filmed in front of the floodlit St. Sophia Cathedral in central Kyiv.
He reassured Ukrainians fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country that “step by step, day by day, the darkness is losing.”
“Today, this is our common goal, our common dream. And this is precisely what our common prayer is for today. For our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
Kherson was not the only region of Ukraine to come under attack Sunday. Russian forces launched 15 drone strikes overnight, and 14 of the Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed over the Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, and Khmelnytskyi regions, the Ukrainian air force reported.
Meanwhile, two people were wounded during the Russian shelling of 20 towns and villages across northern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
In Russia, a man was injured in the Bryansk region after a village close to the Ukrainian border came under fire, the region’s governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
veryGood! (75)
Related
- Pitchfork Music Festival to find new home after ending 19-year run in Chicago
- Sudan and Iran resume diplomatic relations severed 7 years ago, promising to ‘open embassies soon’
- Russia faces a tough fight to regain its seat in the UN’s top human rights body
- The Crown Season 6 Premiere Dates Revealed in New Teaser
- Northern Taurid meteor shower hits peak activity this week: When and where to watch
- Beyond X: Twitter's changed a lot under Elon Musk, here are some notable moves
- Rich Paul Addresses Adele Marriage Rumors in Rare Comment About Their Romance
- A third of schools don't have a nurse. Here's why that's a problem.
- Businesses at struggling corner where George Floyd was killed sue Minneapolis
- Lawyers to deliver closing arguments in trial of 2 police officers charged in Elijah McClain’s death
Ranking
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- South Carolina nuclear plant gets yellow warning over another cracked emergency fuel pipe
- Priscilla's Cailee Spaeny Reveals How Magic Helped With Her and Jacob Elordi's Height Difference
- Powerball balloons to $1.55 billion for Monday’s drawing
- Old Navy's Early Black Friday Deals Start at $1.97 -- Get Holiday-Ready Sweaters, Skirts, Puffers & More
- Suspects sought in Pennsylvania community center shooting that killed 1, wounded 8
- House paralyzed without a Speaker, polling concerns for Biden: 5 Things podcast
- $5 gas prices? Drivers could pay more if Israel-Hamas war widens to threaten oil supplies
Recommendation
-
Kathy Bates likes 'not having breasts' after her cancer battle: 'They were like 10 pounds'
-
Braves rally for 5-4 win over Phillies on d’Arnaud, Riley homers and game-ending double play
-
Israel declares war after Hamas attacks, Afghanistan earthquake: 5 Things podcast
-
Film Prize Jr. New Mexico celebrates youth storytellers in latest competition
-
Arbitrator upholds 5-year bans of Bad Bunny baseball agency leaders, cuts agent penalty to 3 years
-
Video of traffic stop that led to Atlanta deacon’s death will be released, family’s attorney says
-
Free condoms for high school students rejected: California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes bill
-
Full transcript of Face the Nation, Oct. 8, 2023