Kherson becomes first Ukrainian city to fall to Russia

Russian forces have captured their first major Ukraine city, Kherson, local officials have confirmed — as the Kremlin vowed to continue the war until “the end.”

Local officials had initially contested Russia’s claims that it had taken control of the crucial Black Sea port city of about 300,000 people early Wednesday.

But they conceded defeat late Wednesday, when Mayor Igor Kolykhaiev detailed a series of new rules for citizens after “armed visitors” stormed the city council, which included locals allowed to go out only in pairs and drivers having to go slow and being “ready to show the contents of the transport at any moment.”

“The military will not be provoked. Stop at the first demand,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

“So far this is how it is,” he conceded. He said that the Ukrainian flag was still flying, stressing, “And to keep it the same, these requirements must be met.”

The mayor added he was willing to talk because of the “huge difficulties” faced since the invasion, including “the collection and burial of the dead” as well as “the delivery of food and medicine.”

“We had no weapons and were not aggressive. We showed that we are working to secure the city and are trying to deal with the consequences of the invasion,” he said.

“I made no promises to them. … I just asked not to shoot people,” he said.

It was a key breakthrough for Russia, which has faced mounting signs of trouble in the invasion, with demoralized troops meeting tougher resistance than expected.

But the aggression continued for an eighth day Thursday, with a barrage of missiles continuing in several key cities — including Mariupol, whose mayor told CNN it had been shelled for 26 hours straight.

However, a second round of peace talks could get underway Thursday with a Ukrainian official announcing early Thursday that delegation is on its way via helicopter for talks with Russia.

Belarusian state news agency Belta had earlier quoted chief Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky as saying the high-stakes talks would begin in Belarus at 1200 GMT.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted in an interview with state TV Thursday that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until “the end.”

He also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an ethnic Jew, of presiding over “a society where Nazism is flourishing.”

The Kremlin leader also accused NATO of seeking to maintain supremacy, insisting Russia could not let anyone undermine its interests — while downplaying fears the Kremlin was itching to use its nuclear arms.

“The thought of nuclear is constantly spinning in the heads of Western politicians but not in the heads of Russians,” he said. “I assure you that we will not allow any kind of provocation to unbalance us.”

He also expressed “great sorrow” over Russian military casualties, according to CNN.

“Naturally, we all express condolences to relatives and friends, those who have lost their husbands and children. Of course, this is a great tragedy for all of us,” Lavrov said.

Ukraine’s Zelensky remained defiant Thursday.

“We have survived two world wars, three famines, the Holocaust, Babyn Yar, the Great Purge, the Chornobyl explosion, the occupation of Crimea, and the war in the east of our state,” Zelensky said in his latest Facebook video.

 “They wanted to destroy us so many times, but they couldn’t.”

“We’ve been through so much,” the president continued. “And if someone thinks that after overcoming all this, Ukrainians, all of us, will be scared, broken, or surrendered, he just doesn’t know anything about us. He knows nothing about Ukraine.”

Western officials still believe that Russia is smarting at only having taken one city, having long assumed the plan was to swiftly topple the government in Kyiv.

But “the main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over [19 miles] from the center of the city having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion,” Britain’s defense ministry said in an intelligence update.

“The column has made little discernible progress in over three days,” it said. “Despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands.”

With Post wires