New Delhi, March 2: Russian troops have seized Kherson, a provincial capital in the southern coastal part of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry announced in a briefing on Wednesday, RT reported.
Kherson is a strategically important city, and a vital port on the Black Sea and on the Dneper River.
The ministry stated that civilian infrastructure in Kherson is operating normally, with no shortages of food or other items of necessity reported. It said the city’s government and Russian military were engaged in talks on how to ensure order and public safety in the area, RT reported.
Russian forces in Ukraine had attacked more than 60 additional military locations, pushing the total number of destroyed elements of Ukrainian military infrastructure to over 1,500, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported.
Among the targets of Russian strikes was a TV tower in Kiev, the official confirmed. The Defense Ministry claims it was part of the military infrastructure used by Ukraine to wage psychological warfare. It was hit accurately by a precision munition that left nearby buildings undamaged, the spokesman said.
The Russian military announced its intention to attack a Ukrainian military psyop center and what it called relevant “technological sites” several hours before the strike on the tower. The Ukrainian side said five people were killed and five others injured in the attack, which also reportedly disrupted some television broadcasts in the country.
Capturing this southern city of almost 300,000 people would be a major victory for the Russian military, BBC reported.
It would be the biggest city to fall into Russian hands and strategically it would be a vital base for the military as it seeks to push further inland and west along the coast to the big port city of Odesa. Kherson is itself an important Black Sea port and an industrial centre.
Controlling Kherson means controlling a major water source too. Ukraine dammed the North Crimean canal after Russia seized the Crimean peninsula, so most of the fresh water supply into Crimea was cut off, causing water shortages in the annexed region, BBC reported.
One of the first targets of Russia’s military invasion was in unblocking that waterway and restoring water supplies to Crimea.
Russian vehicles entered Kherson’s city centre overnight. Mayor Igor Kolyikhayev said this morning the city needed a miracle.