The Russian army has also bombed Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkivo.
KYIV: Russian forces have captured the city of Kherson, Ukraine, local officials have confirmed, the first major urban center to collapse since the invasion of Moscow a week ago.
"The (Russian) occupiers are in all parts of the city and are very dangerous," the head of the regional administration, Gennady Lakhuta, wrote on the messaging service Telegram late Wednesday.
The strategic port city of 290,000 people near the Black Sea was laid siege as Russian forces advanced with their offensive into other urban centres.
Another major Ukrainian port, Burdiansk, has already been seized by Russian troops, while Mariupol has repulsed the attacks "with dignity," according to that city's mayor, Vadim Boichenko.
The Russian military also bombed Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, drawing comparisons to the massacre of civilians in Sarajevo in the 1990s.
After days of intense fighting, hundreds of civilians have been killed, while nearly a million have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, punishing by Western sanctions intended to cripple Russia's economy.
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