RUSSIAN TROOPS encircle MARYOUPOL and advance towards ODESA after the capture of KHERSON

What looked like a blitzkrieg from Russia to Ukraine is having a slower than expected progress. On the ninth day of war, and despite Putin's announcements, only Kherson has been taken by Russian troops. A city of 300,000 inhabitants of great strategic importance for the Kremlin. Meanwhile, the siege of Mariupol is intensifying. Russian troops completely surround this port city, where they are carrying out a campaign they have already carried out in other areas of the country: deliberately destroying critical civilian infrastructure and residential areas to achieve its surrender, according to the latest report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The next target on this front is the city of Odessa, the third most important city in the country after Kiev and Kharkov, and a strategic point because of its direct access to the Black Sea, ISW adds. U.S. authorities have reported the presence of Russian ships off the coast. Their capture would allow Russia to control all of southern Ukraine after Crimea's unilateral accession in 2014.

2022-03-04T17:26:23+00:00
Duration: 03:24