Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered into the second week. Ukraine continued defiance against Russia’s non-stop shelling is beginning to falter. The southern port city of Kherson fell to the invading force on Wednesday after a lot of fighting.
Kherson is a strategically important port city of nearly 3,00,000 residents. It is located on an inlet from the Black Sea, north of the Crimean Peninsula. The city was under pressure by the surrounding Russian forces for several days now.
On Wednesday, the mayor of the city, Ihor Kolykhaiev, announced via Facebook that the Ukrainian military was no longer in Kherson and the resident would have to carry out the instructions of the ‘armed people who came to the city’s administration’ –an indication that the city had fallen to Russian forces.
The head of Kherson regional administration, Gennady Lahuta, also issued a message saying: “I ask everyone who is not at home now, or who is planning to go outside, not to do so. The occupiers are in all areas of the city and are very dangerous.”
After capturing Kherson, Russian warships are now heading towards Ukraine’s Odesa. The United States has also warned that an attack on Odessa is imminent.
Russia is pushing hard to seize control of major Ukrainian cities as war is becoming a protracted one due to Ukraine’s resistance. The battle for Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv has become more intense, with Russian missiles hitting at least three schools, a cathedral, and shops. Eight people, including two children, were killed in the overnight shelling by Russia in the Izyum area of Kharkiv. On Tuesday, a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was also killed while out for supplies.
The Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Mariupol “remain in Ukrainian hands,” despite heavy shelling by Russian forces, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Thursday.
Several cities and towns in Ukraine have been heavily damaged in the non-stop shelling by Russia. Massive parts of Kharkiv have sustained damage, including schools and a cathedral. In Okhtyrka, dozens of residential buildings were destroyed.
In the northern city of Chernihiv, an oil depot was hit by shelling during an airstrike on Thursday morning, according to the State Service of Ukraine for Emergencies.
 Photos from Chernihiv show clouds of thick black smoke from what appear to be oil tanks, with firefighters and emergency workers on the scene.
Air raids sirens have been sounded in major Ukrainian cities, and residents have been asked to go to the nearest shelter. These cities include the capital city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa.
Meanwhile, the Ukraine-Russia peace talks, held in Belarus, will go into the second round on Thursday. The first round on Monday lasted five hours.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, has also opened an investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Published by: Khushboo Mehta
Edited By: Kritika Kashyap
