The deputy head of the Kherson military-civilian administration managed to avoid almost certain death in a suspected Ukrainian attack on his office on Friday as he had left for a TV talk show.
“Today I could have died, but God saved me,” Kirill Stremousov wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that he was alive “thanks to chance and all those who need me.” The official claims that one of the five US-made HIMARS rockets reportedly launched by Ukrainian troops on Kherson city center landed right on his office.
Stremousov was invited to appear on the 'Speak the Truth' talk show on Crimea 24 TV by Oleg Kryuchkov, an advisor to the head of the peninsula.
“When I told the editors on Monday that Kirill Stremousov should be invited to the talk show [...] I could not even imagine that it would be saving his life.” Kryuchkov said on social media.
Stremousov claims that the target of the Ukrainian forces was the acting head of the Kherson military-civilian administration Sergey Eliseev as well as a meeting of municipal authorities of the region. None of the high-ranking officials were injured in the attack, the official said, but several other people lost their lives or were injured.
According to the local health authority, at least 13 people sustained injuries in the attack on the city center on Friday, of which three are currently in a critical condition. They also reported that the attacks left three people dead – two passersby and a driver for a region official.
The city of Kherson has been under Russian control since early March, shortly after the country launched its military operation in Ukraine. Late last month, Kiev troops began a counteroffensive in the region, which, according to Moscow, has failed completely, with the Ukrainian military suffering heavy casualties.