Oleg Rubak outside his former home in Zhytomyr
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The Russian onslaught across Ukraine continued on Thursday as the port city of Kherson became the first to fall to Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Ukraine’s emergency service said hospitals, homes, kindergartens and transport facilities had all been hit with more than 2,000 civilians killed so far, although the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights puts the tally of confirmed deaths at 227 civilians.
But despite what one Western analyst described as a Russian “campaign of terror”, there was more determined resistance from the defending forces.
Kherson
The most significant development was in the strategically important southern city, which lies on the banks of the Dnipro river where it flows into the Black Sea.
Its mayor Igor Kolykhaev said that Russian troops had entered the council building and were in control of the city.
He appealed to residents not to provoke Russian troops, who have imposed a curfew and told people not to go out in groups of more than two.
In a Facebook post, he said that another edict states that only cars carrying food, medicine or other supplies would be allowed to enter the city.
But despite its fall, residents were reported to be going up to Russian soldiers telling them to leave with the Russians said to saying in return that they were unhappy about being there.
One inhabitant, speaking under a pseudonym, told the BBC that “people are not afraid of soldiers, in our souls we are not afraid of Russia” and that “Russian soldiers are saying that we don’t like the situation too and we will not touch you… From their behaviour it’s clear that they are unhappy to be here.”
Mariupol
Another key southern port remained in Ukrainian hands despite a Russian bombardment lasting hours. Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks had been relentless.
“We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments, since the shelling does not stop,” he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. It also quoted a separatist commander from Donetsk saying that pro-Russian forces might launch their own targeted strikes on the city unless it surrenders.
Meanwhile, a governor said Mariupol was without electricity or water supplies. There were also claims that Russian forces had cut the rail line out of the city to stop civilians escaping. Deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov told the BBC that it was “near to a humanitarian catastrophe”.
He added: “The Russian army is working through all their weapons here — artillery, multiple rocket launch systems, aeroplanes, tactical rockets. They are trying to destroy the city.”
He said one residential district had been “nearly totally destroyed”. “We cannot count the number of victims there, but we believe at least hundreds of people are dead... My father lives there, I don’t know if he is alive or dead.”
Kharkiv
There was more tragedy in Kharkiv, where another 34 civilian deaths over the past 24 hours were reported in the city and the surrounding region.
The city, which is Ukraine’s second largest, has faced days of shelling, including of civilian homes, and new images showed debris strewn across the city’s Constitution Square.
Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to president Volodymyr Zelensky, said that several Russian planes had been shot down over Kharkiv and added: “Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century,” invoking one of the most heroic defensive struggles of the Second World War when invading Nazi forces were ultimately repelled.
Zhytomyr
Heartbreaking footage of Oleg Rubak standing in front of the rubble of his family home in the city of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, weeping for his dead wife brought home the trauma of the conflict.
He said her body was buried underneath after being killed by a Russian missile strike.
“Her name was Katia. She was 29 years old. One minute I saw her going into the bedroom, a minute later there was nothing,” he told the AFP news agency. “I just want the whole world to know what happened.”
Mr Rubak and his one-year old-daughter were also buried, but he managed to escape and dig her out and now wants Mr Putin to “roast in hell for all eternity”.
Odessa
The Black Sea port city, home of Ukraine’s main naval base, was preparing for an amphibious assault after warships were seen massing off the west coast of Crimea.
The flotilla comprises of four large landing ships and three missile warships, said Ukraine’s armed forces.
Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi sailor was killed in a “rocket or bomb” attack on his vessel in the port of Olvia.
