On March 2, Kherson, one of the major cities of Ukraine reportedly came under Russian control, as per reports.
Ihor Kolykhaiev, Mayor of Kherson, wrote a post on his Facebook account asking the residents to follow the orders of the Russian soldiers. Kherson houses around 2,90,000 people, and it is located at around 480 KM south of Kyiv. The Russians had claimed they had captured the city hours before the official announcement from the Ukrainian officials.
Kherson is strategically important because it provides land connectivity to Crimea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an early morning address on Thursday, urged the people of Ukraine to keep resisting the Russian Army. In a social media post, he had said, “We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy.” Notably, he did not comment on if Russia has taken control of the major cities, including Kherson. He claimed the Russians would be driven out from the locations they had entered.
New Agency AFP said one million people have already fled from Ukraine since Russia initiated military action. Gennady Lakhuta, head of the regional administration, wrote in a post on Telegram messaging service that the Russians have occupied the majority of the locations in the city. He said, “The (Russian) occupiers are in all parts of the city and are very dangerous.”
Natalie Gallon, Reporter at CNN, said in a social media post that the Russian troops were seen walking under stress after the intense fight. Kherson houses a key bridge that connects Crimea to the rest of Ukraine.
Russia’s military action against Ukraine
On February 24, Russia announced military action against Ukraine. In the last one week, Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the situation. Meanwhile, India has abstained from voting against Russia in the United Nations Security Council. Reportedly, there were around 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine when the war broke. Over 12,000 Indians have been evacuated from the war-torn country. Out of these 12,000, over 6,000 have been brought back to India. Indian Air Force has also joined the evacuation process.
Four Union Ministers have been coordinating the evacuation from the neighbouring countries. On Wednesday, Indian Embassy in Ukraine had issued an urgent advisory to the Indian nationals in Kharkiv to leave the city immediately and provided a list of three locations in three different directions, including one in Russia where they can go for further evacuation.