International

Russian troops used stun grenades, gunfire to break up demonstration in occupied city, Ukraine says

A volunteer of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces assists a woman to cross the street in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.

Ukraine’s military said Russian troops used stun grenades and gunfire to disperse protests in the occupied city of Kherson on Monday. 

“Russian security forces ran up, started throwing stun grenades into the crowd and shooting,” the Ukrainian armed forces press service said, Reuters reported

Russia was able to overtake the urban center early in the war, and around 250,000 individuals have regularly held demonstrations against the occupation. 

Video showed protesters going to Kherson’s Freedom Square to demonstrate against Russia’s occupation on Monday. 

The video showed clouds of smoke, loud bangs and gunfire, with at least one person injured, according to Reuters. 

It has been almost a month since Russia invaded Ukraine. More than 3 1/2 million people have fled Ukraine and more than 6 million people have been displaced inside the country. 

Ukrainian forces have been able to stall most of Russia’s advances in the country in the past few days and retook the strategically important Kyiv suburb of Makariv on Tuesday.