Ukraine War Update: 9,000 Russian Soldiers Killed, 1,597 Wounded As Invading Troops Captures First City (Photos)

• Russian troops continue to face stiff resistance from the Ukrainians across the country both military and civilian and have yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv.

• Ukraine’s president has claimed nearly 9,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion of his country began a week ago.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke in a video message in the early hours of Thursday, in which he told invading forces to “go home”

He warned: “Wherever they go, they will be destroyed. “They will not have calm here, they will not have food, they will not have one quiet moment.

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“The occupiers will receive only one thing from Ukrainians: resistance. Fierce resistance. Such resistance that they will forever remember that we don’t give up what is ours, that they will remember what a patriotic war is.”

It came as Russian troops reached the centre of the Ukrainian port of Kherson, after a day of conflicting claims over whether Moscow had captured its first major city.

But a 40-mile-long convoy of military vehicles heading towards the capital, Kyiv, is said to have virtually ground to a halt.

It is about 18 miles (30 km) from the centre of the capital after being delayed by “staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion”, said the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Russian troops continue to face stiff resistance across the country and have yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv, where the feared major assault has not yet begun.

President Zelenskyy praised the resistance of his fellow Ukrainians: “We are a people who broke the enemy’s plans in a week.
“These plans had taken years to write – they are mean, with hatred for our country, for our people.”

He added that Russian soldiers were “not warriors of a superpower” but “confused children who have been used”.

“Ukraine doesn’t want to be covered by the dead bodies of soldiers,” said the president.
“Go home. With your whole army. Tell your officers that you want to live, that you don’t want to die but to live.

“We need to stop the war and restore peace as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, bombing in Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest city – has been continuing, while the Russians have been shelling the city of Izyum, about 75 miles southeast.

The port city of Mariupol is encircled by Russian forces but remains in Ukrainian control despite heavy shelling, Ukrainian armed forces said on Thursday morning.

It said Kharkiv and Chernihiv were also still in Ukrainian hands, said the UK Ministry of Defence.
Kyiv’s central rail station was rocked by an explosion on Wednesday evening as thousands of civilians were trying to flee.

It was caused by the wreckage of a downed Russian cruise missile hitting a heating pipe, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry, and there were no reports of casualties.

Several loud explosions were also reported in Kyiv in the early hours, though the target of the blasts remains unclear.
A major assault on the city of three million was believed to be imminent but appears to have been delayed after the nearby Russian convoy stalled.

Food and fuel shortages, as well as Ukrainian resistance, has plagued the huge line of military vehicles, according to a US defence official.

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