Newborn girl killed alongside parents and brother as Putin’s troops bombard Kherson village

An entire family, including a newborn girl and her 12-year-old brother, was among the victims of intense Russian shelling in the village of Shiroka Balka in southern Kherson. The shelling, which occurred on Sunday, killed a husband, wife, 12-year-old boy, and 23-day-old baby girl. The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that another resident in Shiroka Balka and two men in the neighboring village of Stanislav were also killed.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko condemned the attack, stating that the terrorists responsible must be stopped by force. He shared a photo on Telegram showing the aftermath of the attack, with plumes of smoke rising from the family’s home. Kherson was one of four regions in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed last year, but Ukrainian forces have been fighting to regain control.

Ukrainian military officials announced that their forces were making progress in the south. They reported success near a key village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the capture of other unspecified territories. In the western parts of the Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces were trying to pierce Russian lines, particularly in the area around Staromaiorske and Velyka Novosilka.

The counteroffensive launched by Ukraine in June has seen the recapture of several villages in the south and some territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east. However, the conflict is still ongoing, with intense fighting and casualties on both sides.

In a separate incident, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea. Russia claimed that the ship’s captain failed to respond to a request to halt for inspection. This incident comes after Russia halted its participation in a Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine and warned that all ships heading to Ukrainian waters would be considered potentially carrying weapons.

Amidst the ongoing conflict, panic reportedly is growing among Russian forces, with an increasing number of desertions. Russian military officials have been conducting house-to-house searches for deserters in some regions, while drinking and drug use among newly conscripted troops has also become a concern.

The situation in Ukraine remains volatile, with continued clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces. The international community continues to monitor the situation closely and calls for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.