By First major city seized by Russian forces
Russian forces have seized control of a key port city in southern Ukraine, the mayor says.
Kherson is the first major city to be taken by Russia since it invaded a week ago.
Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said Russian troops had forced their way into the city council building and imposed a curfew on residents.
Several cities have come under intense shelling in the past few days, with Ukranian President Zelensky stating there has been no let up in Russia’s shelling of cities since midnight.
An investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine has been launched by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Russia now admitted heavy military casualties during its attack on Ukraine, with 498 troops killed and a further 1,597 injured while Ukraine says Russia’s losses run into the thousands.
Ukraine has reported more than 2,000 civilian deaths since the invasion began last Thursday. The conflict has also caused more than a million people to flee Ukraine.
In a Facebook post, Mr Kolykhaev said Russian forces were in control of Kherson, a port on Ukraine’s southern Black Sea coast with a population of more than 280,000 people.
He urged Russian soldiers not to shoot at civilians, saying there were no Ukrainian forces in the city.
Mr Kolykhaev called on residents to follow conditions set by Russian forces in order to “keep the Ukrainian flag flying”.
The capture of Kherson could allow Russia to create a base for the military there as it seeks to push further inland.
A Kherson resident told the BBC that food supplies are insufficient and there are many wounded civilians who need to be taken out of the city for treatment.
He says the Russians are “not allowing the Red Cross to bring medicine and ambulances to help people”.
“I have already had this experience in Donetsk in 2014 and I came here to Kherson,” he adds.
“I think in a couple of years we will have a completely different Ukraine and it will be a completely free Ukraine, not under Russia.”
