Moscow, Feb 27: Moscow claimed Sunday its troops had "entirely" besieged the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the city of Berdyansk in the southeast, as the Russian army pressed ahead with the invasion of the pro-Western country.
"Over the past 24 hours, the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk have been completely blocked by the Russian armed forces," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
Nissiles hit Vasylkiv town
Russian missiles have hit the Ukrainian town of Vasylkiv southwest of the capital, Kiev, setting an oil terminal ablaze.
"The enemy wants to destroy everything around," the town's mayor, Natalia Balasinovich, said in an online video on Sunday.
Photographs and video online showed large flames rising in the night sky. Authorities warned residents of toxic fumes.
Also on Sunday morning, Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's Luhansk province said an oil terminal was blown up by a Ukrainian missile in the town of Rovenky.
Earlier, the Ukrainian president’s office said Russian forces had blown up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.
The State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection warned that the explosion could cause an “environmental catastrophe”, and advised residents to cover their windows with damp cloth or gauze and to drink plenty of fluids.
Ukraine’s top prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, said the Russian forces were unable to take Kharkiv, where a fierce battle is underway. The city of 1.5 million is located 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border.
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