Advertisement

'Chilling' photo emerges from Ukraine as Russia claims first city

Nick Whigham
·News Editor
·4-min read

Russia has claimed that it has captured a strategically important Ukrainian city as fighting continues and the Russians are accused of committing genocide in an extraordinary rebuke at the United Nations.

As a huge 64 km-long column of Russian tanks and other military vehicles remains stationary outside the capital Kyiv, the Russian invaders overnight pressed their assault on the strategic port cities of Kherson and Mariupol while other cities including Kharkiv and Zhytomyr in the north saw continued shelling.

Seven days into its invasion, Russia has now claimed it has taken control of the southern city of Kherson.

"The Russian divisions of the armed forces have taken the regional centre of Kherson under full control," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in televised remarks.

That account was backed up by New York Times journalists Michael Schwirtz in Ukraine who reported this morning that "Kherson has fallen to the Russian military, becoming the first major Ukrainian city to come under Russian control since the invasion last week".

Local residents work among remains of a residential building destroyed by shelling in Zhytomyr.
Local residents work among remains of a residential building destroyed by shelling in Zhytomyr on March 2. Source: Reuters

"The mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, told me he met today with the Russian commander who plans to set up a military administration," he tweeted.

Online, pictures show military trucks lining up in the city.

Diplomat and former prime minister of Sweden, and now co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, Carl Bildt, shared one image referring to the trucks as "prisoner transport vehicles".

"Darkness descends," he wrote. "An empire of evil has come."

Russia has reportedly taken the southern city of Kherson.
Russia has reportedly taken the southern city of Kherson. Source: Twitter

Meanwhile, Russia pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city with about 1.5 million people, with another round of aerial attacks that shattered buildings and lit up the skyline with balls of fire.

At least 21 people were killed and 112 injured over the past day, said Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration.

Ukraine officials claimed several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv, though that could not be confirmed, the Associated Press reported.

A military truck and tank are seen on a street of Kherson on March 1.
A military truck and tank are seen on a street of Kherson on March 1. Source: Reuters

Russia reports casualties for the first time

Russia reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began last week, saying nearly 500 of its troops had been killed and almost 1600 wounded.

Ukraine insisted Russia's losses were far higher – with some estimates at about four times that.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, gave his side's casualty figures, rejecting reports about "incalculable losses" of the Russians as "disinformation."

Konashenkov also said more than 2870 Ukrainian troops have been killed and about 3700 wounded, while 572 others have been captured.

Ukraine accuses Russia of 'genocide' at the United Nations

Most of the world has lined up against Moscow in the United Nations to demand it withdraw from its neighbour of more than 44 million people.

The UN General Assembly voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow.

The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions. It came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997.

Countries that spoke up for Russia included Belarus, Cuba, North Korea and Syria.

Assembly resolutions aren't legally binding, but they do have clout in reflecting international opinion.

On the eve of the vote, Sergiy Kyslytsya told the UN general assembly in New York that Russia was committing genocide.

Putin invaded "to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist," he said. "It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide."

with AP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.