Russia-Ukraine war: Kherson mayor confirms port city captured by Russian troops

Kherson mayor Igor Kolykhaev has confirmed that Russian troops are on their way to capture the port city while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said that the fighting is still continuing.

Russian officials claimed Kherson is in their “complete control”. Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow them to gather up the bodies from the streets, news agencies Reuters and AP reported.

“I simply asked them not to shoot at people,” mayor Igor Kolykhaev said in a statement. “We don’t have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to live,” he added.

Kherson, a city of 300,000, is strategically located on the banks of the Dnieper River near where it flows into the Black Sea. If Russian troops take the city, they could unblock a water canal and restore water supplies to the Crimean Peninsula.

The battle in the Kherson region began last Thursday, the first day of the invasion, and by the next day, the Russian forces were able to take a bridge that connects the city with the territory on the western bank.

Russia said it would press forward with its military advances in Ukraine. Its assault on the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, continued on Wednesday with its mayor stating residential areas were being bombed. Four more persons were killed and nine others were injured in shelling during the day, the emergency services said.

Russia’s week-long invasion was denounced by the United Nations in a historic vote and dozens of countries referred Moscow to be probed for potential war crimes.