Russia Says Ukraine Attacked Its Own Citizens While Attacking Kherson Schools And Kindergartens

JAKARTA - Ukrainian artillery strikes killed and injured civilians themselves in the Kherson region, Russia said on Sunday, May 1.

Russia's Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian troops of raiding schools, kindergartens and cemeteries in the villages of Kyselivka and Shroka Balka in Kherson, according to

RIA Russian news agency.

Russia's Ministry of Defense - reported by Reuters via Antara - did not provide further details and there was no response from Ukraine on the report.

Moscow has shifted focus to southern and eastern Ukraine after failing to capture the capital Kiev in the nine-week military offensive.

During the invasion of Ukraine, Russia destroyed cities, killed thousands of civilians and forced more than five million people to flee abroad.

Russian troops have captured the city of Kherson, just 100km north of Crimea annexed in 2014, and most of Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov.

Russia declared victory in Mariupol on April 12, although hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians still remained at the Azovstal steelworks.

The United Nations has pushed for an evacuation deal. On Saturday, a Ukrainian fighter at the factory said about 20 women and children had been removed.

"We pulled civilians out of the rubble with ropes - the elderly, women and children," said the fighter, Sviatoslav Palamar, referring to the rubble inside the factory which stretched for 4 sq km.

He said Russia and Ukraine respected the local ceasefire, and he hoped the evacuated civilians would be brought to the city of Zaporizhzhia. Hundreds of Ukrainians are still inside the steel plant, according to Ukrainian officials.