In the occupied Hola Prystan, in the Skadovsk district of the Kherson region, several occupation police officers were killed on February 28, 2026. Among them was Veronika Velmamedova, whom the Russians presented as an activist and teacher. However, Ukrainian military officer, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and blogger Anatoliy "Stirlitz" Stefan found a photo of Velmamedova, which indicates that she was one of the occupation police officers.

The Russian occupation of Kherson left behind more than just a destroyed infrastructure and a looted city.

It left behind places where people were systematically broken. One of these was a torture chamber in the city center.

The Security Service of Ukraine has identified two Ukrainian citizens who, together with Russian military personnel, participated in the torture of civilians in the basement of a captured building in Kherson.

The independent international commission of inquiry into violations in Ukraine under the UN Human Rights Council has published a report. It documents systematic attacks by Russian drones on civilians in the Kherson region. It also records strikes on ambulances and critical infrastructure. The Russian military is publicly distributing videos of such attacks and messages with explicit threats to civilians for moving in areas called «red zones».