First major Ukraine city falls to Russians as mayor of Kherson admits Putin’s forces have now taken control

THE first major city in Ukraine has fallen to the Russian invaders a week after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into the country. The mayor of Kherson has now admitted Kremlin forces are now in charge and the Ukrainian government also confirmed the city had been captured. Avalon.redRussian troops in the centre of Kherson[/caption] ReutersKherson is the first major city in Ukraine to fall to the Russians[/caption] ReutersRussian tanks and troops have now occupied the city[/caption] Russian forces have been laying siege to the strategic southern Ukrainian port cities of Kherson and Mariupol. Fierce fighting is still raging in Mariupol, where the Russians have been accused of genocide. The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets. “I simply asked them not to shoot at people,” he said in a statement. “We dont have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.” Gennady Lakhuta, head of the regional administration, added in a post on Telegram: “The occupiers are in all parts of the city and are very dangerous.” Most read in News PEOPLE POWER Ukrainians block Russian troops from nuclear plant amid 'catastrophe’ warning LAID TO WASTE 'Hundreds dead' as Russia carries out 'full-scale genocide' in 15-hour siege HELPING HAND Russian soldier 'in tears as Ukrainian locals feed him & help call his mum' HELL ON EARTH '2,000 civilians' killed in Ukraine as horrifying pics show deadly air strike WW3 THREAT Putin’s chief chillingly warns World War Three would be ‘nuclear & destructive’ VLAD’S TANKING Demoralised and ‘CRYING’ Russians ‘surrendering without a fight’ in Ukraine Vladimir Putin‘s had hoped for quick takeover of Ukraine but his forces have met stiff Ukrainian resistance. Supply chaos has hampered their advance while there appears to be poor moral among soldiers, many of whom have tearfully surrendered to the Ukrainians. Read our Russia – Ukraine live blog for the very latest updates The lack of progress has led to growing fears Russia is using more and more indiscriminate attacks against civilian targets in a bid to end the war. Russians were allegedly been indiscriminately shelling the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, home to almost 450,000 people, for the past day, with unconfirmed reports claiming hundreds have been killed. Mariupol’s mayor accused the Russians of carrying out “genocide” on his city, while his deputy claimed an entire neighbourhood home to 130,000 people has been flattened. Footage reportedly filmed in the city appears to show gun battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces on Wednesday. The city lies in a key location, between the annexed Crimean Peninsula where a number of Russian forces are based, and the pro-Russia breakaway provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. Mariupol has reportedly been under continuous fire for the past 14 hours, according to the city government. A maternity hospital and dozens of residential buildings have been severely damaged, while a school and a migrant shelter were destroyed. Three boys playing football were hit in a Russian shelling attack in the city. One lost his leg and died soon after arrival, an AP reporter said. The other two were rushed to hospital and remain in intensive care. All three boys were around 15 to 16 years old. Unconfirmed reports claim hundreds have been killed in uninterrupted hours of shelling. The basement of the maternity hospital in Mariupol has been transformed into a bomb shelter and nursery as Russian forces stepped up their attacks. Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, told Ukraine‘s 1+1 TV Channel that Russian troops have also stopped civilians from escaping the port city. APA wounded man is rushed away by paramedics in Mariupol[/caption] Video captures a gun battle in the city of Mariupol Ukrainian Armed ForcesThe aftermath of shelling in the city on Wednesday[/caption] Mariupol City CouncilA makeshift hospital has been created in the basement of a maternity ward[/caption] He said: “There’s been colossal destruction of residential infrastructure, there are many wounded and unfortunately many civilian dead, women, children, old people.” “A full-scale genocide of the Ukrainian people is underway.” He went on: “You have to understand that the occupation forces of the Russian Federation have done everything to stop the exit of civilians from our city of half a million people. “Our railway link has been cut – they even went to the railway station and fired on our diesel locomotives so that people can’t be evacuated. “So their mission is to destroy us, they have no intention of helping civilians.” Earlier on Wednesday, Boychenko said the number of wounded civilians “is growing every day”. He said: “Today there are 128 people in our hospitals. Our doctors don’t even go home anymore. They are fighting for the lives of Mariupol residents.” Water supplies are also reportedly under threat in the city following more than half a day of Russian bombardment. The city’s deputy mayor Sergiy Orlov said a riverside district home to some 130,000 people – including his own father – has been obliterated. He said Russian forces are surrounding the city on all sides and are several kilometres away. All you need to know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine Everything you need to know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine... Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Will the UK go to war? How can I join the Ukraine foreign legion? What can I do to help Ukraine? Who is Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy? How much gas does the UK get from Russia? Is Russia a part of Nato? Does Russia have nuclear weapons? Why is Ukraine not in Nato? How big is the Russian army? What is Article 5 of the Nato treaty? What is the Minsk agreement? Which countries were in the Soviet Union? “The situation is dire, we are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. “We have been bombed nonstop for more than 15 hours. One-quarter of the city is almost completely destroyed. We can’t go inside to pick up the bodies, so we can’t count them.” He told the BBC: “The Ukrainian army is very brave and they will continue to defend the city but the style of the Russian army is like pirates. “They do not fight with their army, they just destroy entire districts.” A message from a Ukrainian soldier pinned down in the city reads: “If anything happens don’t let us be forgotten. We are surrounded in Mariupol, no way out.” One British soldier now fighting in the Ukrainian Marines said he and his comrades were “encircled in Mariupol” as he urged people to “continue the support” for Ukraine. It comes days after a six-year-old girl was killed in a Russian airstrike in Mariupol. Horror images showed the poor child in unicorn pyjamas lying fatally wounded in a hospital in the city. An angry doctor told reporters: “Show this to Putin,” after the girl died despite the medical team’s heroic efforts. The child’s terrified mum, covered in blood and holding a pink scarf, was pictured weeping as she waited outside the ambulance as the medical team tried desperately to revive her. Further rocket attacks have struck Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, hitting the regional police department and part of a university. More than 800,000 people have fled Ukraine so far, according to the United Nations, amid fears of the largest movement of people since World War Two. On Wednesday, Russian paratroopers landed in the city and began fighting for control, according to the Ukrainian military. A second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are due to take place tonight, according to Russian state news. TwitterBurned-out Russian vehicles on the road to Mariupol[/caption] APA makeshift bomb shelter has been built in a sports centre in the city[/caption] ReutersMariupol has already seen heavy shelling since the war began[/caption] APIt comes days after a six-year-old girl was killed in a Russian airstrike in Mariupol[/caption] APThe city’s maternity ward has been moved to the basement after the hospital was shelled[/caption]