Russia Ukraine live updates: Major cities Kherson, Mariupol fall to invaders
Ukraine has lost its first major city and a second city has been “totally destroyed” after a marathon assault by Russian invaders. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Kherson has become the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russia, and is now under “complete control” of Vladimir Putin’s invaders.
The city’s mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, confirmed the city was surrounded and Ukrainian soldiers had fled to the nearby city of Mykolaiv.
The fall of Kherson is the first city to be overtaken and is a blow to Ukraine because of the strategic advantage it allows whoever controls it.
Kherson has about 300,000 residents and could enable Russia to control a significant area of the southern coastline, which would allow troops to head west towards the port city of Odessa.
A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said Kherson was under the “complete control” of Russian forces and its infrastructure was still operational. He claimed Russian authorities were in talks with Ukrainian leaders.
HUNDREDS FEARED DEAD AFTER 15-HOUR ATTACK ON MARIUPOL
There are reports of serious damage in the port city of Mariupol, where the local mayor Sergiy Orlov said a riverside district had been “totally destroyed”.
Russia launched a non-stop 15-hour attack on Mariupol, on the north coast of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius river, he said.
“We cannot count the number of victims there, but we believe at least hundreds of people are dead. We cannot go in to retrieve the bodies. My father lives there, I cannot reach him, I don’t know if he is alive or dead,” he told the BBC.
Mr Orlov said the Russians had targeted pump stations and electrical transformers and there were food shortages in parts of the city sparking fears of a humanitarian crisis.
The seizure of Mariupol is critical because it would allow Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine to join forces with soldiers in Crimea.
“The Ukrainian army is very brave and they will continue to defend the city but the style of the Russian army is like pirates – they do not fight with their army, they just destroy entire districts,” Mr Orlov told the BBC.
“We believe in our Ukrainian army, but we are in a terrible situation.”
ZELENSKY SAYS 9000 RUSSIAN TROOPS DEAD
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had thwarted Russia’s “sneaky” plans, saying he was proud of the “heroic” resistance to Moscow’s invasion.
“We are a nation that broke the enemy’s plans in a week. Plans written for years: sneaky, full of hatred for our country, our people,” Mr Zelensky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging service.
The president said he “sincerely admired the heroic residents” of cities who have resisted the advance of Russian forces.
He added that around 9000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the invasion began a week ago, a claim not immediately verifiable as Moscow does not report its losses.
On Twitter, Mr Zelensky wrote that he had spoken to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and “thanked him for the leadership in imposing anti-Russian sanctions”.
“Stressed the need to expand restrictive measures,” he added.
“The bombing of civilians in Ukraine must be stopped immediately.”
RUSSIAN SOLDIERS ‘DON'T WANT TO FIGHT’
Weeping Russian prisoners of war have claimed they had no idea they were being sent to invade Ukraine and were used like “cannon fodder” by military officers who threw them into battle against “peaceful people defending their territory”.
Footage is emerging of captured Russian soldiers crying as they claim they had no idea what to expect in Ukraine, the Sun reports.
“This is not our war. Mothers and wives, collect your husbands. There is no need to be here,” an injured soldier in front of a Ukrainian flag was filmed saying.”
Other footage showed a handcuffed Russian prisoner crying, while saying: “They don’t even pick up the corpses, there are no funerals.”
Reports have also emerged that Vladimir Putin’s demoralised and disillusioned troops are fleeing the war in Ukraine and surrendering without a fight.
As Russia’s forces run out of food and fuel, some have resorted to looting while others are even reportedly sabotaging their own military equipment in a bid to get out of the war.
Putin’s assault on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv appears to have stalled as fighting enters the seventh day.
Recordings, obtained by British intelligence company ShadowBreak, include a soldier who sounds like he is crying.
In another recording, a soldier loses his temper as he asks when food or fuel will arrive.
“We’ve been here for three days! When the hell is it going to be ready?” he shouts.
A third recording features a tense exchange in which the same soldier refuses to use artillery on an area until civilians have left.
ATTACK ON CITIES INTENSIFIES
Russia ramped up assaults on key Ukrainian cities Wednesday local time after civilians remaining in the capital Kyiv were warned by Russian authorities they have just hours to leave the city before an anticipated missile blitz.
Russia’s defence ministry formally warned it was prepped for an assault on the city centre, ostensibly targeting military and state security depots and offices.
“Leave now,” it said in a message.
There was no detail around what the Russian forces planned but tanks and artillery are positioned in key sites for a long range assault before an estimated 15,000 Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv are expected to launch street-by-street urban warfare.
Stream the latest news on the war in Ukraine live & on demand on Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022
In the country’s northeast region, there have been reports of a rocket attack on the regional police department and part of a university in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv.
According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the attack damaged the Kharkiv City Council building, the Palace of Labor, and high-rise buildings.
The city was also struck by missiles which damaged a TV tower and government buildings in a separate attack on Tuesday.
Earlier, Russian paratroopers landed in the city and began fighting for control, Ukraine’s military said.
More than 2000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed so far during Russia’s ongoing invasion, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. At least 400 Russian missiles had been fired on Ukraine since the start of the invasion seven days ago.
Russia and Ukraine will discuss a ceasefire at upcoming talks on the border between Poland and Belarus, Moscow’s chief negotiator said.
“The Ukrainian delegation has already left Kyiv. We expect them to be here tomorrow morning,” Vladimir Medinsky said, while the Ukrainian presidency confirmed its delegation was “on its way” to the venue of the talks.
There has already been an attempt by Russia to take out key services. .
The latest round of bombings came as Ukraine’s second-biggest city Kharkiv suffered another day of intense shelling, Belarus deployed troops into Ukraine to back Russian troops and the Kremlin issued a veiled threat to France that it could be next.
NO PEACE TALKS UNTIL CEASEFIRE
Day six of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour Ukraine began with a 30-minute call between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and US counterpart Joe Biden.
“We must stop the aggressor as soon as possible,” Mr Zelensky told his opposite number as the men discussed what more the West could do and the current assault on Kyiv and Kharkiv.”
He added there could not be negotiations for peace until there was an agreed ceasefire.
That was unlikely as bombs continued to fall across the country.
Ukraine’s State Service for Emergency Situations said Russian strikes at the TV tower in Kyiv, which also damaged a Holocaust memorial, killed five people and left five more wounded and for a period caused a broadcast blackout.
The tower however did not fall, much to Russia’s chagrin. Ironically the memorial marks the spot where 33,000 Jews were murdered by German forces as they invaded the country.
The 64km long convoy of tanks and artillery inched its way closer to Kyiv but Ukrainian military analysts believe they won’t actually enter the city but rather form a ring around it.
Once achieved, Russia is expected to demand the city surrender or face a barrage of rockets and shells. To achieve the ring, Belarus has reportedly deployed armaments and troops to cut Kyiv’s west and access to possible reinforcement from the city of Lviv.
Belarus is now to face economic sanctions.
Many have questioned why the highly publicised column of tanks and artillery rolling in such close order have not been bombed, the answer simply being Ukraine no longer has an air force to speak off with most of its fighters and aircraft destroyed in the first two days of the invasion.
Already there are moves to cut Kyiv off from water and power with bombings of dams and power stations ahead of what is expected to be a final assault later this week.
It was a tough day for the city but there are fears much worse is to come.
Russia also captured key strategic towns to the south although port cities Odessa and Mariupol are holding on.
Kharkiv, a city with a population of about 1.5 million, was hit with missiles including a dramatic explosion on an administrative building on Freedom Square in the centre of the city. Six people there were killed.
Its bombing was a powerful image not just because of the dramatic footage but because symbolically it is being held up by Ukrainian authorities as proof Russia was not just targeting military buildings.
RUSSIA USING BANNED CLUSTER BOMBS
Proof also has emerged Russia is now using cluster bombs, banned by many countries, although the Kremlin has denied this.
What is clear is that Russian forces are using devastating unguided rockets which are indiscriminately falling on urban areas in various cities in Ukraine.
France was also indirectly targeted by the Kremlin.
Dmitry Medvedev, a deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, responded to a comment by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire that the European Union was going to unleash an all-out economic and financial war against Russia.
“Today, some French minister has said that they declared an economic war on Russia,” Mr Medvedev said on Twitter.
“Watch your tongue, gentlemen! And don’t forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones.”
400,000 Ukrainian women and children fleeing the war have crossed into Poland, many waiting up to 60 hours standing outside in freezing conditions for a chance to escape. Hungary has taken in another 100,000 people.
The United Nations has predicted the conflict could create as many as 4 million refugees.
CHELSEA OWNER QUITS
Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has confirmed that he is selling up after 19 years.
In a statement on the club website he said: “I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart. In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club’s sponsors and partners.
“The sale will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and club.
“Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.”
RUSSIA’S DIRTY TACTICS REVEALED
Russian troops have begun a campaign of dirty tricks as they march across Ukraine, from waving white flags pretending to surrender to offering locals $15 cash for every target they can nominate for bombing or ground attack.
Ukrainian officials have warned the population and its armed forces, ahead of the arrival of Russian troops in their district of the underhanded strategies being used.
They have claimed in one instance Russian troops waved white flags and appeared to be surrendering, following a high-profile appeal by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for young Russian soldiers to lay down their weapons and go home.
But as Ukraine’s military approached, other hidden Russian Special Forces opened fire.
AUSSIE AID WORKER STUNNED
He has been deployed to some of the most desperate humanitarian hot spots in the world including Angola, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
But as he yesterday pounded the platforms of the central station in Lviv in Ukraine’s west, James Elder was stunned by the stories he was hearing.
“It is extremely grim, it really is,” the lanky Aussie from UNICEF said yesterday as he looked out toward the thousands of mothers and their children sitting in the freezing cold waiting for a train that may or may not turn up to take them out of the embattled country.
The UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide deployed the NSW man as a conduit to tell the world what is happening.
HEARTBREAKING WAR PHOTO
A heartbreaking image of Ukrainian children sleeping in a bomb shelter while Russian dictator Vladimir Putin rages bloody war on the country has gone viral.
The stirring picture, shared by the Ukrainian government’s official Twitter feed “Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine”, shows innocent babies and children lying arm-to-arm next to each other on makeshift beds, in what is believed to be an underground bunker.
“Good night #Europe. While you sleep, our little Ukrainians stand guard over your dreams, becoming a human shield for the #EU in the face of Russian aggression,” the Ukrainian government tweeted.
The powerful image was re-shared by other accounts including outspoken British broadcaster and News Corp columnist Piers Morgan, who said: “Ukrainian children sleeping in a bomb shelter, as (Mr) Putin prepares to bombard them”.
PUTIN WILL PAY, SAYS BIDEN
US President Joe Biden has closed American airspace to all Russian aircraft and warned during his State of the Union address that not dealing with a “dictator” such as Vladimir Putin would lead to “more chaos”.
“Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways, but he badly miscalculated,” Mr Biden said.
“He thought he could roll into the Ukraine and world would roll over.
“Instead, he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.
“The free world is holding him accountable – along with 27 members of the European Union including France, Germany, Italy as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and many others, even Switzerland are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine.”
Mr Biden also took aim at Russian oligarchs and “corrupt leaders” who he said have bilked billions of dollars off Putin’s regime, warning them: “We’re coming for your ill-begotten gains.”
Mr Biden told Russian oligarchs the West will “seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets”.
More Coverage
Originally published as Russia Ukraine live updates: Major cities Kherson, Mariupol fall to invaders
Read related topics:Russia & Ukraine Conflict
Join the conversation
UK rapper touring Aus charged with rape
A UK rapper and YouTuber, known as Yung Filly, was arrested on Tuesday with police alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in his Perth hotel room.
Read more
UK rapper touring Aus charged with rape
A UK rapper and YouTuber, known as Yung Filly, was arrested on Tuesday with police alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in his Perth hotel room.
Read more