Haven cafe shuts as Russian attacks turn Ukraine's Kherson into ghost town

Oleksiy Melnychenko, chief barista and manager of a cafe in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, held out as long as he could, serving doses of caffeine and normality to residents struggling amid Russian artillery and air attacks.

Today, the shrapnel-marked establishment stands empty after he finally packed up shop - a testament to how life has become more dangerous than ever, three years after Russian troops pulled out of the biggest city recaptured by Ukrainian forces.

Reached by phone in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, where he relocated with his girlfriend, Melnychenko said he had no choice but to shut "Prostir.coffee" (roughly: "The Coffee Space") for his own safety and that of his patrons.

"The longer I'd have stayed, the higher the likelihood that not just the cafe but myself and customers would get hurt. Who needs that?"

RUSSIAN ATTACKS MOUNT FROM ACROSS THE RIVER

Kherson, in Ukraine's sunny south, is the only provincial capital to have been reclaimed by Ukrainian troops. The Russians withdrew across the Dnipro River in November 2022 during the last major successful Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Though the city never became wholly safe, residents tried to restore a semblance of daily life. But in recent months, Russian attacks have mounted, using devastating air-launched glide bombs and remote-controlled drones operated from across the river, rendering the streets deadly in broad daylight.

Civilians are killed or wounded every day. Energy infrastructure is under renewed attack as winter sets in, part of a Russian campaign to break Ukraine's will to fight. Of around 300,000 residents of the city before the war, only around 60,000 are believed to remain.

"From September, shelling became constant (and) drones are always flying," Melnychenko, 38, said when Reuters last visited the cafe, still open at the time, just under a month ago.

Sporting a well-groomed beard, knit beanie hat and bright red Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team hoodie, he sorted through buckets of shrapnel that he had incorporated into benches on the terrace for his customers.

"This one's from today," he said holding out grey pieces of jagged metal in his palm.

Iryna, a customer, said the place helped her remember lost peaceful times: "There's always such a nice atmosphere when you come here - a memory of what we currently don't have."

-Petro Kobernyk and Dan Peleschuk