Russian army claims breakthrough in Ukrainian port city of Kherson
The Russian army said on Wednesday it had seized the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson as its forces continued to envelop the capital Kyiv during the seventh day of fighting.
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"Russian army units have taken full control of the regional capital of Kherson," said armed forces spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
He added that civilian infrastructure and public transport were functioning normally.
The advances came as the American president Joe Biden denounced his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as a dictator.
Speaking during his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night in Washingotn, Biden told American politicians: "Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated.
"He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined.
"He met the Ukrainian people. From President Zelenskiy to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, inspires the world.
"Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression they cause more chaos. They keep moving."
President Putin thought he could roll into Ukraine — and the world would roll over.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2022
Instead, he met a wall of strength he never imagined.
He met the Ukrainian people.
Biden said the United States would join a host of western governments and ban Russian aviation from its airspace.
The US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration said the measures would take effect on Wednesday night.
It will mean that no aircraft owned, certified, operated, registered, chartered, leased, or controlled by a Russian citizen can pass through American skies.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian security services reported that Russian airborne troops had landed in Kharkiv, the country's second most populous city.
Ukraine’s State Special Communications agency said the soldiers attacked the military medical clinical centre hospital and were involved in skirmishes with local forces.
In Kyiv, residents continued to take shelter in the city's metro stations.
RFI correspondent Stéphane Siohan posted pictures on social media of scenes in the underground system despite warnings from Putin that inhabitants should leave the capital.
#Ukraine A Kiev, les gens dorment désormais dans les abris anti-aeriens et s'enfoncent dans les galeries de stations de métro, ici station Zoloti Vorota (Portes d'or) PHOTOS pic.twitter.com/VoEEnNHTc4
— Stéphane Siohan (@stefsiohan) March 2, 2022
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed on Wednesday that nearly 6,000 Russians since Putin had ordered the invasion. However, the figures have not been independently confirmed.
Referring to Tuesday's attack on Babi Yar - the site of a World War II massacre of Jews by German occupation troops and Ukrainian auxiliaries - Zelenskiy said: "This strike proves that for many people in Russia our Kyiv is absolutely foreign.
"They don’t know a thing about Kyiv, about our history. But they all have orders to erase our history, erase our country, erase us all."
Repercussions
On Wednesday, the repercussions of the conflict were felt in the energy sector.
Brent crude - the international benchmark for oil prices - hit $113 a barrel, marking the highest level since June 2014.
It rose even after the International Energy Agency's members agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from emergency stockpiles.
During his State of the Union address, Biden announced the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the government’s reserves held underground in salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coasts .
Biden said the move would help to protect Americans from higher fuel prices.
“I want you to know that we are going to be okay,” Biden said.
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