Russia said on Tuesday that its armed forces had taken full control of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, although Reuters could not independently verify the statement by Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have taken full control of the entire territory of the Kherson region,” Konashenkov said in a briefing, without elaborating.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations.
The city of Kherson, a provincial capital of about 250,000 people, was the first key urban center to fall into the hands of Russian troops after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
US defense officials said Russia could use Kherson as part of a strategy for a potential onslaught against Mykolaiv and then Odessa, other key cities in the country’s south.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to “denazify” its neighbor and prevent genocide, a claim that Ukraine and its Western allies reject as a pretext for an unwarranted and illegal attack.
On Monday, Russian forces seized 10 US-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems and several other weapons supplied by Western countries to Ukraine, the spokesman added in an excerpt from the briefing the ministry published on its website. YouTube.
Russian forces shot down six Bayraktar TB-2 drones in the last 24 hours, the Interfax news agency said, citing the ministry.
Konashenkov said the Javelins and other foreign weapons seized by the Russians would be handed over to fighters in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed groups since 2014.
Satellite images reveal destruction in the suburbs of Kiev, Ukraine
Source: CNN Brasil

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