Nika Selivanova, thirteen years old, made a heart-shaped gesture with her hands and waved goodbye to Inna, her best friend. Inna was being pressed against the glass partition that separated the train station’s entrance from the waiting area.

They had hugged moments earlier, their eyes welling with tears. Inna had wrapped Asia in a blanket and carried Nika’s arms around her.

They didn’t know when the girls might see one another again.

Nika’s family left Kherson to search for help. They were not certain where they would end. They were headed to Khmelnytskyi in the west, hoping for some help.

Elena, Nika’s mother, was simply too exhausted from the past few days spent in Kherson.

“Before they [Russian forces] bombarded us seven to ten times per day, now it is 70-80 times every day, all day.” It’s scary,” Elena stated. “I love Ukraine, my dear city. But we must go.

Elena and her three daughters were among the more than 400 who fled Kherson after the Russian military increased the intensity of their bombardment.

A hospital maternity ward was attacked on Tuesday. Although no one was injured, it has heightened fear among the population.

Elena fled by train in an evacuation assisted by the Ukrainian government.

Many people are leaving alone, and a long line of cars is building up at the checkpoint to Kherson. It is filled with panicked civilians.

Iryna Antonenko was crying when we approached her car to talk to her.

“We can’t bear it any longer. It is so intense. We stayed the whole time, hoping it would end and that we would be able to escape. She said that a strike struck the house right next to us, and that my father’s home was also bombed.”

She had planned to travel to Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, where her family is.

Kherson was the scene of jubilant scenes just last month. The Russian forces captured the city on the second day. The city was liberated by them on 11 November.

Near the spot where people had gathered to wave Ukrainian flags in celebration of their freedom from Russian control, an attack by mortar on Christmas Eve left 11 dead and many others injured.

A social worker, a butcher, and a woman selling SIM cards were among the dead – just ordinary people who work at the central market or visit it.

According to the Ukrainian government, Kherson was struck by mortars 41 times that day.

The Russians fire from the east bank of the Dnipro River, where they withdrew; the waterway has been de facto a frontline in the southern part of Ukraine.

Kherson, a strategically important area often called the gateway into Crimea, is often called Kherson. Many analysts believe that Russia is now in a defensive position.

It is difficult to imagine what the company hopes to gain by the pounding at Kherson. We have seen mortar shells used, as well as incendiary ammunition being used. These are fiery sparks that rain down on the city to set fire to its targets.

It is also not clear if the Ukrainian military wants to regain control of the areas on the left bank.

The constant sound of mortar shells is almost constant in this city.

Serhii Breshun (56), was found dead in his bed. After a shell struck it, his home fell on him.

We met Tamara, Tamara’s mother at 82 years old, the day after his death. She had come to find his passport among the rubble. To get her son’s body out of the morgue, she needed the document.

“It is possible that I sensed that something was wrong. Because I called him and asked him to leave the home. That was all he did. She wept, “Our lives have been destroyed.”

We had just finished speaking to her when there were even more loud explosions.

Because Kherson is not safe, the elderly mother is driven to be a single parent and give her son a loving farewell.

It is possible to survive here, in a home or on a street.

Viktoria Yaryshko, a Red Cross volunteer aged 39, was killed in a mortar bomb explosion just outside Kherson’s base. She was only a few feet from safety.

We were presented with the medal of honor Viktoria by her mother Liudmyla Begrezhna

“She helped many people and I am very grateful for her kindness. She was very kind. It’s hard for me. I have to recover and take care of her children. She said that they should be proud to their mother, as she is a hero.”

Viktoria and her two children, 12-year-old Sasha and 17-year old Alyonushka, had been living underground in shelters of the Red Cross. They live there now, and feel comforted and protected by a group volunteer who have become their family.

It is hard to lose someone you love. However, if we stop trying and give up, her death would be in vain. We strive to ensure that people live. Viktoria’s friend Dmitro Rakitskyi said that everything else is secondary.

It’s difficult to believe that your family could be in peril every minute.

Dmitro tries to call his wife while pacing up and down, tension visible on his face, after more bombs are detonated a few seconds later. He is the father of two children.

“They don’t want to go. They worry about me and I worry about them. He said that this is how we live.

“What I find most disgusting is the way they [Russian forces] constantly hit civilian infrastructure. Apartment blocks, houses, boiler rooms. Dmitro stated that it was impossible to comprehend the logic behind these attacks.

“We almost never have water or power. Sometimes it’s only temporary and then it disappears again due to shelling. It can be very frightening at night. Larysa Revtova, a resident, stated that they still have gas and can stay warm.

Tens of thousands of civilians still live in Kherson. However, the regional administration has twice urged them to move.

The city is plagued by incessant and indiscriminate attacks.