'Death Is Everywhere' in a Once-Jubilant Ukrainian City

Jeffrey Gettleman / The New York Times

Tamara Smoliarchuk mourning at the graves of her mother and sister, in Kherson on Tuesday. (photo: Finbarr O'Reilly/The New York Times)

11 May 23

No city in Ukraine has suffered the reversal of fortunes that Kherson has. Liberated in the fall, it was a symbol of hope. Now it is a kill zone.

The road to Kherson is long, straight and empty. Vacant fields rise from either side.

Entering town from the west, you pass the ATB supermarket, one of the mainstays of the city’s shopping. A rocket ripped into it a few days ago, shrapnel slicing into shoppers, killing four.

After that lie more crushed buildings, disassembled by Russian artillery shells.

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