MUKACHEVO, Ukraine – Russia continued its attack on Ukrainian cities during the night with significant attacks on the capitals of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in the northeast and the southeastern port of Mariupol, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
Russian state media, citing Russian defense officials, reported that Moscow’s troops controlled Kherson, a vital port connecting the Black Sea and the Dnieper River. But the mayor of Kherson, confirming that enemy tanks and troops are in the city, said it was still in Ukrainian hands. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced via WhatsApp that battles are currently being fought and “the city is not completely conquered.”
Russian troops continued to face unwavering resistance from Ukrainian military and civilian fighters, which, along with ongoing logistical struggles, limited their achievements over the past 24 hours.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, suffered another night of air strikes with videos on social media that could not be verified immediately, allegedly showing explosions at regional police headquarters and in residential areas. Russian paratroopers have landed and engaged Ukrainians in a shootout at a medical center, a regional official said.
In Kherson, videos confirmed by The Washington Post show heavy fighting, with a blow to an apartment building, as well as Russian tanks moving in a residential area.
In a Facebook message, Mayor Igor Kolikhaev called on residents to stay indoors and promised the city would work. The first priorities, he said, are restoring electricity, water and heat where they were lost, and collecting the dead. “Last night, when my team and I were at the town hall, the building was shelled. “Everyone is alive,” he wrote. “But again, please don’t leave the house. Don’t provoke a shooting with your actions and behavior. We are in a very difficult situation, there is no need to make it worse.”
He concluded: “We are all waiting for a miracle. We need.”