Ukraine war: Russian military takes central Kherson

New Delhi, March 2:  Russian army seems to have taken central Kherson, screenshots posted to social media and a video show, CNN reported.

The screenshots from a webcam and the video have been geolocated, and their authenticity verified.

The video shows Russian military vehicles at a roundabout in northern Kherson on Tuesday. The screenshots from the webcam show Russian military vehicles parked on Svobody Square in central Kherson, CNN reported.

The Kherson Regional Administration building sits on Svobody Square.

On Tuesday, Russian military vehicles had been seen on the eastern side of the city after days of shelling and intense fighting.

The videos provide new evidence that the Russians are moving throughout Kherson, apparently unimpeded. It also shows that the Russian forces from Crimea have advanced and established a crossing across the Dnieper River.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaiev posted a stark message on Facebook, warning the city was under attack. “Residential buildings and urban facilities are burning,” he wrote, CNN reported.

“We are NOT military! But I will hold the city and its functioning as long as I can,” he wrote.

“If the Russian soldiers and their leadership hear me. I ask: leave our city, stop shelling the civilians. You have already taken everything you wanted. Including human lives.”