November 27, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian region of Kherson 54 times on Saturday, a local official said.

Some residents have evacuated the recently liberated Kherson city and surrounding villages over the past week. More may follow, as authorities urge Ukrainians to heed warnings about Russian shelling and inconsistent power supply ahead of a harsh winter.

The latest round of shelling killed one person and left two other people, including a child, wounded, said Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson region military administration.

The attacks hit residential buildings, a garage and a school building, Yanushevych said on Telegram.

Shelling was reported in at least eight other areas in the broader Kherson region, he added.

Ukraine's national power supply company Ukrenergo said 80% of electricity needs nationwide had been restored by 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) Sunday, after Russian attacks caused widespread blackouts last week.

The company said critical infrastructure consumes only about 10% of the 80% capacity restored. The rest is used to supply electricity to ordinary consumers, like homes and businesses.

Grid operators are still imposing restrictions on how much energy Ukrainians can consume, as a result of the remaining 20% power deficit.

Meanwhile, a local leader in the Kherson region said power grids damaged by Russian shelling Saturday had been restored.

Crews are restoring electricity to the recently liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, where concerns about power supply and ongoing Russian shelling have forced some residents to evacuate.

An official in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram Saturday that repair work was going "around the clock" to restore electricity.

“First of all, we supply power to the city's critical infrastructure and then immediately to household consumers,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko said, thanking crews for their efforts.

Ukraine's deputy minister for energy, Farid Safarov, added Saturday that more than 30 settlements in the Kherson region “have finally received light.”

Six million consumers across the country were without power as of Friday evening, but that the number “is decreasing thanks to the quick work of our energy workers,” Safarov said.

Earlier today, national power supply company Ukrenergo said that 75% of electricity demand is being met across Ukraine.

Millions of Ukrainians have been suffering power cuts across the country in recent weeks amid intensified Russian shelling. Last week saw some of the most devastating attacks yet on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, leaving millions in the dark.

An attack left at least 13 people wounded in Dnipro on Saturday, according to a local official.

Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, described the assault as a “rocket attack" on Telegram.

Four of the injured remain at the hospital, including a 17-year-old boy and a woman who was pulled out from under the rubble and is in serious condition, he said.

He added that seven homes were partially destroyed and that search and rescue operations are underway.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz joined global leaders in marking the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor famine in Ukraine.

“Hunger must never again be used as a weapon,” Scholz said Saturday, speaking on the memorial day for victims of the Soviet-era famine that killed millions of people during the winter of 1932-33.

In a speech in Berlin, Scholz drew comparisons between the Holodomor, or Terror Famine — which was engineered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin by removing food stocks from Ukrainian peasants — and Russia’s current actions in Ukraine.

“We know that by targeting agricultural infrastructure in Ukraine and blocking Black Sea ports for months, Russia has exacerbated this situation,” Scholz added. 

Scholz said that Germany would provide another $15.62 million for grain shipments from Ukraine in coordination with the World Food Programme. 

“You can count on our support. Each ship that sails under this initiative doesn't just carry grain. It carries hope for the world's hungry. And it carries an important message. The message that we are united, that we will overcome this war. And that our joint humanity will prevail,” Scholz added.