Kherson Weekly: 07-13 December
Weekly Review of War-Related Events and Information Space in & around Kherson
Photo: Kherson Police
Video of the Week
The Kherson Patrol Police shared a video of their harrowing rescue operations in swift reaction to the consequences of three separate drone strikes, which mauled innocent civilians on Sunday, 08 December.
Video: Patrol Police
“10:20🕗 An enemy drone dropped an explosive device near a grocery store. We quickly arrived at the scene, set up a turnstile, and evacuated the victim.
11:50🕚 The bad guys launched a drone strike on a passerby: an elderly man was injured. The patrol officers, without wasting time, provided first aid and took the injured person to the hospital.
12:15🕐 The enemy dropped bombs on the yard of one of the houses. A woman suffered a facial injury. We immediately arrived at the scene and evacuated the victim.”
Photo of the Week
Photo: Kherson Police
On 09 December, a horrific image revealed the aftermath of a Russian drone strike on a car, which killed a 57-year-old man in the Korabelnyi District, located on the western side of the city, according to the Kherson Police. Russian forces unleased a wave of drone terror across Kherson that day, wounding a 44-year-old man in Korabelnyi and two men in their sixties in Antonivka on the eastern side of the city.
Terror From the Left Bank
On 10 & 11 December, Russian milblogger Osvedomitell Alex shared a series of drone drop attack videos, which took place in Antonivka, some more recently than others. Additionally, a new channel emerged on the scene. Here’s some of the most important video evidence of Russian war crimes released by Telegram channels associated with Russian military units from this week.
#1
Two victims were injured by a grenade dropped while they were smoking cigarettes outside. Osvedomitell Alex claimed a drone detection system was picked up in the area, therefore (incorrectly) justifying the attack. The use of a drone detection system for personal protection does not warrant use of lethal force against civilians.
Video: Osvedomitell_Alex
Geolocated to Antonivka by foosint on Bluesky.
#2
One civilian was injured by a drone drop in this video shared on 10 December. With the reported number of drone casualties in Kherson Raion breaking 750 casualties in the last six months, Osvedomitell Alex offered an “explanation” of their actions in the caption.
Video: Osvedomitell_Alex
Geolocated to Antonivka by 99Dominik on X.
“In certain areas there is much less transport and the enemy has started to move on foot. We know almost all the civilians and who lives where too. Aerial reconnaissance works perfectly, allowing us to determine friend or foe with 100% accuracy.”
Note the lack of clear definition of who constitutes a “foe” and the veiled (and likely true) threat that they know where everyone lives. Many of these units have been conducting daily surveillance in this direction for well over a year, sometimes longer, so they know Antonivka and Kherson well. Additionally, the consistent lack of clear distinction as to who is a combatant and a non-combatant by the Russians is one of many low-effort semantic attempts to add some sort of perceived plausible deniability for their crimes. Then with 100% accuracy, it seems these drone pilots intended to murder that 57-year-old civilian man from Korabelnyi District referenced earlier.
#3
One man was wounded in a skid attack on a public transportation stop. Alex offered this video to his audience on 11 December — complete with a mockingly celebratory soundtrack and a racist caption.
Video: Osvedomitell_Alex
“The rooster that goes to the PVD [temporary deployment point] and checks the state of the point decided to either take a leak or look for a stash. The pig was downvoted.”
The language used by Alex here is consistent with previous posts where dehumanizing allusions to “roosters” or “pigs” are hurled as insults. Additionally, the Russian fanatic’s posts often contain references to stereotypes of Ukrainians as drug addicts or alcoholics. One specific feature of recent posts is the reference to a «ПВД» (transliteration: PVD). This acronym stands for «пункт временной дислокации», which translates to “temporary deployment point” — a common Russian military term, which Alex attributes to public transportation stops throughout Kherson and Antonivka. This is another semantic device which Alex employs in his typical attempts at justifying or distancing himself and his drone pilot cronies from their inhumane acts.
#4
A civilian seeking shelter from drone skids alongside a building was gravely wounded, if not killed, suffering immediate massive blood loss due to shrapnel wounds from a Russian drone dropped munition.
Video: Osvedomitell_Alex
Geolocated to Antonivka by foosint on Bluesky.
#5
I discovered a new channel in one of Osvedomitell Alex’s auxiliary chats in late November called simply Kherson Direction 2025. On 09 December, this previously unknown channel shared one of the clearest examples of firefighters being targeted in Antonivka.
Video: Kherson Direction 2025
Geolocated to Antonivka by PJ “giK” on X.
Intrigue
Drama in the 70th Motor Rifle Division
Intriguing developments from the last couple weeks came to a boiling point in the Russian collaborationist and mil-blogosphere. According to popular Russian propagandist account Zdorovyi Kherson, men of the 70th Motor Rifle Division (MRD) are not properly being compensated for their military service. The criticism from the Russian milblogger and the command of the 70th MRD first arose in a post from the account on 17 November.
“70th Division, please! Sort out the pay for servicemen and volunteers in the units. There is a problem, people are fighting without BROK and there is confusion with the calculation! It is clear that the situation is difficult, there is a lot of turnover, there are many tasks, but please pay attention…”
Writing on 07 December, Zdorovyi Kherson expressed true frustration at the situation regarding the payment of 70th Division soldiers. Seemingly, the situation deteriorated leading to the FSB to intervene and remove the commander of the division. However, this intervention seems to have led to more confusion amongst the personnel and anger from the Russian mil-blogosphere.
“The 70th division is fucked. The guys wrote to us for a reason, they tried to sort things out quietly, without any fuss, so that it would be done neatly . But they fucking don't know how. The FSB guys took the division commander, there is some movement planned in the division, but nothing is really clear...I don't want to raise many things, but I feel like I'll have to soon!”
As the issue remained unresolved and the soldiers remained in limbo, the channel posted again on 08 December, with scathing allegations regarding the conditions in which soldiers of the 70th MRD are fighting.
“...the commanders did not release the fighters to whom the humanitarian aid was brought. The people are sitting under the Antonovsky Bridge still in summer uniform. Let's stop this ‘whoredom’…”
Interestingly, the account seemed to not center blame upon the command entirely this time. A vague statement at the end reads as if the account was told to cease stirring the pot in its service as a whistleblower or vent of sorts for the popular discontent amongst the whining Russian occupiers and the mob-mentality of the channel’s collaborationist subscriber base.
“…whatever the relationship, there is no need to complicate the conditions and for the volunteers to complain about the command of the units of the 70th Motorized Rifle Division.”
Nothing more emerged as of writing on 13 December, so further monitoring is needed to understand the true fallout and implications of the lack of payment, intervention by the FSB, and reorganization of command in the division.
It is important to note that the 70th MRD is the centerpiece and primary fighting force of the 18th Combined Arms Army operating in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Kherson Oblast. According to Forbes, this division saw particularly high losses while trying to expel Ukrainian forces from the settlements of Krynky and Kozachi Laheri on the Russian-occupied bank of the Dnipro River in late 2023 and early 2024. Check out Andrew Perpetua’s map for context and geolocated events.
Tracking Russian Terror
Data: Kherson ODA; National Police; Kherson Oblast Prosecutor’s Office; Oleksandr Prokudin
Situation Report
As of 13 December, in the last six months, 1374 civilians have been killed or wounded in Kherson Raion. 122 people have died from Russian attacks and 1252 have been wounded. 769 people have been killed or injured in drone-related attacks, including drone-placed remote mining, 54 of which were killed or died later from their injuries across Kherson Raion. 605 people have been killed or injured from artillery shelling, indirect tank fire, aerial bombing, missile strikes, multiple rocket launcher artillery fire, and mortar fire combined. 68 of those victims were killed or died later from injuries sustained in Russian strikes.
Weekly Civilian Victims of Russian Aggression
Shelling:
Killed: 0
Wounded: 8
Drones:
Killed: 4
Wounded: 33
Total: 45
Data: National Police
Weekly Buildings & Infrastructure Report
Photo: National Police
Private Homes & Apartments: 57
Infrastructure: 10
Data: National Police
Weekly Damaged Vehicle Report
Photo: Kherson ODA
Public Transportation: 0
Civilian Auto: 23
Police & EMS: 5
Agricultural Machinery: 1
Data: National Police
Sources
Ukrainian Sources:
Kitsoft. (n.d.). Національна поліція України. https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/na-khersonshchyni-vnaslidok-rosiiskoi-ahresii-poraneni-semero-myrnykh-zhyteliv-politsiia-fiksuie-naslidky-viiskovykh-zlochyniv
Kitsoft. (n.d.). Національна поліція України. https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/odna-liudyna-zahynula-ta-shche-visim-otrymaly-poranennia-v-rezultati-rosiiskykh-obstriliv-khersonshchyny-politsiia-fiksuie-naslidky
Kitsoft. (n.d.). Національна поліція України. https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/vnaslidok-rosiiskykh-obstriliv-khersonshchyny-dvoie-zahyblykh-ta-piatero-poranenykh-myrnykh-zhyteliv-politsiia-dokumentuie-naslidky
Kitsoft. (n.d.). Національна поліція України. https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/vnaslidok-rosiiskykh-obstriliv-khersonshchyny-dvoie-zahyblykh-ta-chetvero-poranenykh-myrnykh-zhyteliv-politsiia-dokumentuie-naslidky
Kitsoft. (n.d.). Національна поліція України. https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/na-khersonshchyni-vnaslidok-rosiiskoi-ahresii-poraneno-shistokh-liudei-politsiia-fiksuie-naslidky
Kitsoft. (n.d.). Національна поліція України. https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/odna-liudyna-zahynula-ta-shche-troie-poraneni-v-rezultati-rosiiskykh-obstriliv-khersonshchyny-politsiia-fiksuie-naslidky
Національна поліція України 🇺🇦. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/UA_National_Police/32216
Патрульна поліція України. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/patrolpolice_ua/7518
Поліція Херсонської області. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/khersonpolice/13339
Поліція Херсонської області. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/khersonpolice/13394
🇺🇦Херcонська ОДА (ОВА). (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/khersonskaODA/28441
Russian Sources:
От Мариуполя до Карпат. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/osvedomitell_alex/22917
От Мариуполя до Карпат. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/osvedomitell_alex/22918
От Мариуполя до Карпат. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/osvedomitell_alex/22940
От Мариуполя до Карпат. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/osvedomitell_alex/22955
Херсонское направление. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/KhersonDirection2025/28
Херсон ЗХ. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/zdrxerson/23561
Херсон ЗХ. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/zdrxerson/23857
Херсон ЗХ. (n.d.). Telegram. https://t.me/zdrxerson/23863
English Sources:
(1) PJ “giK” on X: “Antoniivka, Kherson - russian drone operators target a fire engine apparently responding to a fire at or close to School #21 with drone dropped charge 46.677249, 32.738170 @GeoConfirmed @UAControlMap @Cen4infoRes https://t.co/wBGtc94fbY” / X. (n.d.). X (Formerly Twitter). https://x.com/giK1893/status/1866578176761012373
Axe, D. (2024, July 19). The Russians have lost so many vehicles around Krynky, they’ve assigned a tank regiment to fetch the wrecks. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/01/13/the-russians-have-lost-so-many-vehicles-around-krynky-theyve-assigned-a-tank-regiment-to-fetch-the-wrecks/
Dominik on X: “Russian drone dropped grenade on a person in Antonivka 46.682304, 32.685099 Antonivka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine @GeoConfirmed Source: https://t.co/xLju5UjDoE https://t.co/iYWjxm2FRI” / X. (n.d.). X (Formerly Twitter). https://x.com/99Dominik_/status/1866611433267662999
foosint (@foosint.bsky.social). (n.d.). Bluesky Social. https://bsky.app/profile/foosint.bsky.social/post/3lcy3arx4zc25
foosint (@foosint.bsky.social). (n.d.). Bluesky Social. https://bsky.app/profile/foosint.bsky.social/post/3ld2jf5ysss2p
UA map. (n.d.). https://map.ukrdailyupdate.com/