Russia captures port city Kherson, sieges major Ukrainian cities

Kyiv, Mar 03: The mayor of the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson, Igor Kolykhayev, hasconfirmed 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.

Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said Russian troops were in the streets and had forced their way into the city council building, the Reuters news agency reported.

The second-largest city of Kharkiv is witnessing bombardment even as the Kremlin faces increasing isolation on the world stage. According to reports, Russian troops have seized Ukraine's Kherson, a strategically important city.
"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.