Russia Takes Control of Ukrainian Port City of Kherson VOA

Russian forces took control Thursday of the strategic Ukranian port city of Kherson as they continued to shell major cities in an offensive that has forced more than 1 million people to flee the country.

Local government officials and the Russian military confirmed the seizure of Kherson, the first city to fall in Russia’s week-old invasion of Ukraine, following days of disputed claims over who was in mcontrol.

Moscow’s attempt to quickly take over the Ukrainian capital has apparently stalled, but the military has made significant gains in the south as part of efforts to sever the country’s connection to Black and Azov seas.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday they all remained in Ukrainian hands.

“We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address early Thursday. “They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.”SEE ALSO:Latest Developments in Ukraine: March 3

Russian troops were also besieging the port city of Mariupol east of Kherson, an attempt Mayor Vadym Boichenko said was aimed at isolating Ukraine.

“They are trying to create a blockade here,” Boichenko said Thursday in a broadcast video. He said the Russians are attacking rail stations to prevent civilian evacuations and that the attacks have cut off water and power.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cited expectations ahead of the invasion that Russia would quickly overtake Ukraine, writing on Facebook, “No one, neither in Russia nor in the West, believed that we would last a week.” He added that while there are challenges ahead, Ukraine has “every reason to be confident.”

Little hope for peace talks

Despite little sign of a potential breakthrough, the two sides are holding a second round of peace talks in Belarus Thursday. Ukraine said it would call for ceasefire and humanitarian passageways for its citizens.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Thursday Russian forces will continue their effort to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure and will not allow its neighbor to represent a military threat to Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the situation, but that Russia must first de-escalate.

“It’s much more difficult for diplomacy to succeed when guns are firing and tanks are rolling,” he told reporters Wednesday.

In a 90-minute telephone conversation Thursday initiated by Putin with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin told Macron that Russia would achieve its goals that include the demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine by any means necessary, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Macron told his Russian counterpart the war he initiated against Ukraine was a “major mistake,” according to a French official. “You are lying to yourself,” Macron told Putin if he thinks his goals are realistic, said the official, who added Putin “wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine.”SEE ALSO:UN Refugee Chief: 1 Million Have Fled Ukraine in Russian Invasion’s First Week

Poland has taken in half of the more than 1 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the past week, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The U.N. body has said it expects 4 million people could leave Ukraine due to the conflict.

Ukraine’s emergency agency said Wednesday Russia’s attacks have killed more than 2,000 people across the country.

Russia’s Defense Ministry put out its first casualties report, saying 498 of its troops were killed in Ukraine, while more than 1,500 others were wounded.

Ukraine Puts Up Stiff, Courageous Resistance to Russian Incursion

MARCH 2, 2022 | BY DAVID VERGUN

Effective and creative Ukrainian resistance, combined with poor Russian logistics and sustainment has hindered Russian invasion progress, said a senior defense official who held an on-background press briefing today. 

There hasn’t been a lot of significant change on the ground in Ukraine since yesterday, the official said. 

In terms of committed Russian combat power inside Ukraine, yesterday it was around 80%. Today it’s about 82%, which is still not an insignificant percentage of combat power, the official said. 

In Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv, in northern Ukraine, there’s continued Ukrainian resistance to Russian advances, with an increase in Russian missile and artillery fire targeting infrastructure and media outlets, the official said. 

Those cities are under assault, but with no appreciable movement by the Russians to take them. They are clearly meeting with resistance,” the official said. 

In the south, the Russian invaders made progress, threatening Kerson and approaching Mariupol from the south, and they are also deploying forces from Donetsk in the east toward that area. The official said those cities are still contested. 

“The airspace over Ukraine remains contested. The Russians had not achieved air superiority over the whole country. The Ukrainian air and missile defense capabilities remain intact and viable,” the official said. 

Russia has now launched roughly 450 short-range and medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles, since the start of the war, the official said. 

“We think that there’s lots of reasons why [the Russians are] not making the progress that they’ve wanted to make,” the official said. Besides, citing logistical and sustainment problems and resistance from the Ukrainians “we also believe that [the Russians] have had morale problems … so, there’s likely a bunch of factors here that are probably at play.” Spotlight: NATO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to effectively control his armed forces. The U.S. and NATO continue to supply Ukraine with munitions and other supplies, the official added.