The mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Igor Kolikhaev, said on Wednesday that Russian forces were on the city’s streets and forcibly entered the city council building, Reuters reported.
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–Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian government denied reports that Kherson had fallen into Russian hands.
It is the first significant city to fall into Russian hands since the invasion began last week.
Kolikhaev called on Russian soldiers not to shoot at civilians and publicly appealed to citizens to take to the streets only during the day, alone or in groups of up to two.
The mayor said there were no Ukrainian troops in the city.
The takeover of Kherson was also announced by the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov, the Associated Press reported.
He said civil infrastructure, basic services and transport are functioning as usual and there is no shortage of food and basic goods.
Earlier on Wednesday, the UN human rights service said that by midnight on March 1, 227 civilian casualties and 525 wounded had been confirmed in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Most of the civilian casualties were the result of artillery and rocket fire and air strikes.
According to the service, the actual number of civilian casualties is “significantly higher”, especially in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government in the last few days, due to delays in information from areas of intense hostilities.
