Ukraine war: Strategically important port city of Kherson falls to Russian troops; US debunks Moscow’s `human shied’ claims

UNGA resolution notwithstanding, Russian troops continued their offensive and capture the strategic Black Sea port city of Kherson

Russian troops forced their way into the council building are in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. The port city of Kherson has a population of 250,000 people. It is strategically placed where the Dnipro River flows into the Black Sea and is the first significant city to fall into Moscow’s hands.

The Russian incursion has yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv but thousands are reported to have died or been injured.. More than 870,000 people have fled Ukraine.

Authorities sounded air raid alerts in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa.

Meanwhile, the US Department of State debunked Russia’s claims that Ukraine is using Indian students as human shields.

 “We have seen no verified reports of these incidents, and these types of reports about using civilians as human shields are commonly used in Russian disinformation,” a US Department of State spokesperson told a news agency.

 Earlier, Russian Embassy in India claimed that Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield.