KHERSON, Ukraine — Shells exploded with deadly force in Kherson on Monday, sowing terror and underscoring the threat still posed by Russian forces after their retreat from the city in southern Ukraine.
In one corner of the city, a woman, crying hysterically and apparently in shock, took cover in a shop with six others as shells tore through the air nearby.
Close to where another shell had landed, an injured man lay in the grass as a soldier and police officers attempted to stabilize him. About 30 feet away, a boot stood in a pool of blood, the tarmac pockmarked from the spray of what appeared to be multiple detonations.
But even as these violent scenes played out, nearby streets still bustled as residents went about their daily lives after months of occupation ended less than two weeks ago.
The Kremlin ordered its forces to retreat from Kherson, a strategically important city on the Dnipro River, on Nov. 9, dealing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a significant defeat. Two days later, Ukrainian troops entered the city in triumph.
Since then, Russian forces that pulled back to the Dnipro’s western bank have been launching missiles over the river into the city. Three people were killed on Sunday, according to regional officials. Shells — both incoming and outgoing — could be heard again on Monday as the battle for control of the broader region continued.
The misery the shelling inflicted on civilians in Kherson is a cruel irony. The Russians who had occupied Kherson since March are now attacking it — pummeling a city Moscow considers to be part of Russia, having annexed it last month in a move denounced by Ukraine and the West as illegal.
Since Ukrainian forces recaptured the city, officials have urged residents to evacuate, citing the lack of essential services and continued threat of attack. The government on Sunday said it would provide free transportation for anyone who wanted to leave, with an evacuation train set to depart on Monday evening.
Even so, “there is a significant part of Kherson that categorically refuses to leave,” the deputy regional governor, Serhii Khlan, told journalists on Monday. “People say: ‘We survived the occupiers here, so now we will survive all the difficulties.’”
About 80,000 people remain in the city, Mr. Khlan said — far less than its prewar population of about 250,000. But already some of the displaced have begun to return: A steady stream of traffic flowed into Kherson at dusk on Sunday.
While the targets of Monday’s shells were impossible to ascertain, they landed in residential areas. The toll, according to local officials, was one dead and three wounded.
On one street, Yulya Kalygina, 34, cowered in terror in a stairwell with her 6-year-old daughter, Safya, as the deafening blasts sounded.
“I want to escape to Mykolaiv,” she said, referring to a city around two hours’ drive to the northwest. When asked to describe her thinking, she used the word “Russia” and the word “hate.”
Matthew Mpoke Bigg contributed reporting.
