Amid Celebration, Photos Show Destruction In Parts Of Kherson

This is the remains of Kherson International Airport, photographed on November 13.

The airport was captured by Russian troops less than a week after the invasion began on February 24 and served as a base for the invading forces. When the Russian advance stalled, the airport remained within easy reach of Ukrainian artillery and rockets.

A destroyed Podlet radar system, one of Russia’s most modern radars, next to the crater of a large explosion at the airport in Kherson on November 13. 

Kherson's airport was described as a “shooting gallery” for much of the Russian occupation, with massive losses in helicopters and armor stationed on its tarmacs. Kyiv claimed to have killed two Russian generals there. 
 

A 2012 file photo of Kherson airport’s passenger terminal.

In 2019, before the pandemic hobbled tourism and the Russian invasion stopped it completely, the airport served 154,000 passengers who flew direct to Turkey and Kyiv.

 

The turret of a destroyed howitzer at Kherson's airport. 

The airport is located in Chornobaivka, at the northwestern corner of Kherson city. 

A destroyed tank in the territory of the airport. 

A section of the airport in Kherson. 

Serhii Nuzhnenko, a photographer with RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service who shot the photos in this gallery, entered the Kherson region on November 13.


 

People cheer Ukrainian soldiers as they arrive in the Kherson region.

Nuzhnenko says access to Kherson has been tightly restricted, with journalists needing to rely on personal contacts within the military to get into the newly recaptured areas. Only locals with proof of residency have been allowed to freely enter the territory.

A destroyed vehicle on a road in the Kherson region.

A Ukrainian soldier looks at the destroyed Antonivskiy Bridge, in the east of Kherson. 

The crucial bridge had been out of action for much of the Russian occupation as Ukraine targeted one end of the span with repeated rocket strikes -- reportedly using U.S.-made HIMARS systems. As Russian forces retreated on November 11, a large explosion led to the collapse of the bridge.

A soldier signs a Ukrainian flag in the center of Kherson. 

"Young people are waving flags to the rhythm of Ukrainian music," Nuzhenenko says of the atmosphere in the center of the newly recaptured city, adding, "locals are saying 'we've returned home, under the Russians we were forbidden to to anything, and now we are free again.'" 

Residents of Kherson receive bread. 

"These are historic moments in the life of your country" Nuzhnenko says of the scenes in Kherson, "and it hurts a little that you are involved in this and see and record this history."