Ivan Shestopalov, a freelance journalist for Kavun.City, was injured in a Russian attack on the Tavria shopping centre in Kherson’s Tavriyskyi microdistrict on 16 August, chief editor Yevheniia Vyrlych told IMI journalist Valentyna Troyan.
Vyrlych said that the neighborhood had been considered relatively safe until recently. Russian forces are now reaching it with drones too. She noted that Ivan Shestopalov was near the site of the strike at the time it occurred, on personal business.
The journalist is showing symptoms suggesting a concussion. He has not yet seen a doctor, but plans to do so in the near future, the editor said.
“On the first day, he had a headache and his ears felt blocked. On the second day, the headache hadn’t gone away, and he was nauseous,” Yevhenia Vyrlych said.
She explained that getting to a hospital in Kherson isn’t a simple task, since the trip “there and back is a risk.”
According to Yevhenia Vyrlych, there is a shortage of specialist doctors in Kherson. People travel to Mykolaiv or Odesa when necessary. The situation is better with GPs: they’re available and seeing patients. Likewise, the ambulance service in the city is operational, but paramedics respond to calls under constant shelling.
Earlier, Vladyslav Yesypenko, freelance correspondent working with Radio Liberty and Shelter, survived a Russian strike in a high-rise residential building in Kharkiv. He was in a seventh floor apartment at the moment of the attack.