The Russian-appointed "governor" of the annexed Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, announced on the morning of January 1 that Ukrainian drones had struck a cafe and hotel in the village of Khorly on New Year's Eve. Khorly is a village in an area said to be under Russian control since 2022.
According to Saldo, 24 people, including one child, were killed and about 50 injured in the attack. Later, his press secretary clarified that the number of wounded was 29.
He stated that a drone allegedly loaded with a flammable mixture was used in the strike around midnight, causing a fire that was only extinguished in the morning.
On the same day, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced the initiation of a criminal case under the article "terrorist act."
At the same time, on the morning of January 1, the head of the military administration of the Kherson region, Alexander Prokudin, reported that a man died and an 87-year-old woman was wounded as a result of a strike by Russian strike drones in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson. According to him, the attack occurred in the Central and Dniprovsky districts of the city.
The text states that the situation in the Kherson region is already serious: on December 31, 2025, a 47-year-old man was killed in a drone strike on the village of Novovorontsovka, on December 28, nine residents were wounded during an artillery strike, and on December 25, the shooting occurred in the market area in the city center.
Human Rights Watch, in its June 2025 report, noted that the Russian army uses drones "regularly and deliberately" against civilians on the left bank of the Kherson region. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also assessed drone attacks as one of the main threats to civilian life in 2025, stating that a significant portion of such attacks occurred in the Kherson region.
In short, the first day of the new year began with contradictory statements and heavy news around Kherson: on one side, claims about the attack on Horley, and on the other, information about the strikes on the city of Kherson. The saddest thing is that in both cases, ordinary people suffer.
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