Occupied Ukraine City Facing 'No Shortages,' Local Officials Working With Russian Command

A major Ukrainian city of Kherson, having about 300,000 residents, has fallen into Russian control, and the Russian Defense Ministry said the Kherson administration is negotiating with Russian command regarding law and order as well as the people’s safety. The ministry added that there are no shortages so far in the city.

Kherson is the first major Ukrainian city that Russia captured Wednesday, a week after it first launched a military operation in Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the Ukrainian city of Kherson “is not experiencing shortages in food and essential goods,” adding that “negotiations are ongoing between the Russian command, the administration of the city and the region” to ensure that “law and order” is retained and residents of the city remain safe, The Hill reported.

Kherson city mayor Igor Kolykhaev confirmed to The New York Times that the city was surrounded by the Russian military. Kolykhaev said Ukrainian soldiers were not in the area. “I just asked not to shoot people. We don’t have Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to LIVE here!” he reportedly said in a Facebook post cited by CNN and other outlets.

The Kherson mayor also told The Times that he brought in volunteers to help gather and bury the bodies of about 300 civilians and defense troops who were believed to have been killed during Russia’s takeover of the city.

Kolykhaev told The Times that about 10 armed Russian officers infiltrated the city hall and told him of their plan to establish a military administration in the area. New rules have also been set by the Russian officers, including a curfew, he said.

Kherson is a shipbuilding center and Kolyhaev said there was limited food and water due to the fighting. He said there were also power outages as the Russian takeover gained pace.

Kherson’s fall into Russian hands could mark a major moment in the Ukraine-Russia war as the city’s location, which is on the banks of the Dnieper River that flows back into the Black Sea, could allow for Russian forces to push further inland once the invading troops successfully establish a military base in the area, BBC reported. Furthermore, Kherson is just beside Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Aside from being a potential entry point for moving forward inland into Ukraine, Russia’s capture of Kherson may also sever the Ukrainian government’s means of exchanging goods between western and eastern cities, Deutsche Welle reported.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters that a Ukrainian delegation is on its way for a second round of talks following Monday’s first meeting that concluded without a breakthrough. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian government wants Ukraine to demilitarize and also rejects the latter’s bid to become part of NATO.