INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian troops have seized Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city to fall in a devastating week-old war that has already created one
million refugees.The capture of the Black Sea city of 290,000 people, which just last year hosted NATO-supported war games, appeared a
significant boost for Moscow as it readied for potential ceasefire talks on Thursday.Russian "occupiers" were in "all parts" of Kherson,
Ukrainian regional official Gennady Lakhuta conceded late on Wednesday.After a three-day siege that left Kherson short of food and medicine,
and struggling to collect and bury its dead, the town's mayor also announced he was in talks with "armed guests."He had "made no promises"
to the invading forces, but agreed to a night curfew and restrictions on car traffic."So far so good
The flag flying above us is Ukrainian
And for it to stay that way, these requirements must be met," he said in a Facebook post.Stalled elsewhere, Russia continues to make
larger strategically vital port city of Mariupol.There, mayor Vadym Boychenko reported hours of punishing bombardments that trapped
civilians in a city now without light, water or heating as temperatures hover around freezing."Today was the hardest, cruellest of the seven
days of this war," he said
"Today they just wanted to destroy us all."Moscow's victory in Kherson comes one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin's army
marched into Ukraine from the north, east and south, training a vast arsenal of weaponry at Ukrainian cities.Russian forces have
sporadically bombarded civilian targets across the country, including the capital Kyiv and the majority Russian-speaking second city of
Kharkiv, which is now coming under more intense attack.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the barrage of missiles, shells and
rockets a "war crime" and the International Criminal Court has confirmed an investigation is underway.Amid violence that has kindled
memories of Europe's blood-soaked past, one million Ukrainians have now fled across the border into neighboring Poland, Slovakia, Hungary,
Romania and Moldova, according to the UN refugee agency's rapidly rising tally."We left everything there as they came and ruined our
lives," refugee Svitlana Mostepanenko told AFP in Prague."They're bombing even civilian houses where there are kids, small kids, children,
have emerged of burned-out Russian tanks, the charred remains of transporters and of unarmed Ukrainians confronting bewildered occupying
forces.A senior United States defense official said the massive column of Russian military vehicles amassed north of Kyiv had "stalled" due
to fuel and food shortages.Russian authorities had been silent on the toll of the invasion, and have a domestic media blackout on what the
Kremlin euphemistically calls a "special military operation."But the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that
498 soldiers had "died in the line of duty."Ukrainian forces put the Russian toll at 10 times that number
The true figure is not known.Despite risks and restrictions, Russians have turned out for large anti-war protests across the country, in a
direct challenge to Putin's 20-year rule.Thousands of anti-war demonstrators have been detained, including several dozen in rallies in
Petersburg on Wednesday."I couldn't stay at home
another powerful rebuke, overwhelmingly backing a resolution demanding Russia "immediately" withdraw from Ukraine.Moscow lost the vote 141-5
Its allies China and Cuba abstained.In Washington, top United States diplomat Antony Blinken warned the human costs were already
"staggering," accusing Russia of attacking places that "aren't military targets.""Hundreds if not thousands of civilians have been killed or
secure a ceasefire.Kyiv is sending a delegation to the Thursday ceasefire talks, at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border,
but has warned it would not accept "ultimatums."Western countries have already imposed heavy sanctions on Russia's economy and there have
been international bans and boycotts against Russia in everything from finance to tech, from sports to the arts.EU and NATO members have
already sent arms and ammunition to Ukraine, although they have made clear that they will not send troops and the EU has dampened Zelensky's
hopes of membership of the bloc.
