STORY: Dozens of riverside residents queued up at the house of a local entrepreneur on Monday to receive free rations of filtered drinking water.

“They fire, but what can we do? They fire, and we endure it. Only those who are scared have fled, and those without fear have stayed,” said 67-year-old resident and pensioner Marina Zhdanova, just after receiving a portion of filtered water.

Artem Suvorov, who also lives along the riverside, said he was frightened by the explosions, but he and his family had “already gotten used to it."

Kherson was occupied by Russian forces for nearly nine months, after which Russian forces retreated to the eastern side of the Dnipro River, where they remain in control of the large part of Kherson region. Kherson city itself was recaptured by Ukraine on November 11.