Russia to take control over Kherson's Oleshok in 24hrs, looking for representative: Report

As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to intensify, with Russian forces continuously attacking Ukrainian territories, the situation has worsened. In a recent development, the mayor of Oleshok, Kherson region, Yevhen Ryschuk, released a video message saying the Russian forces would seize full control of the city within the next 24 hours.

In the video message, the mayor of Oleshok said, "From April 23, Russian troops will take control and responsibility for the city," and they are currently looking for who will lead the city.

Mayor claims Moscow is looking for a representative to head Oleshok in Kherson region

According to a report published in the pravda.com.ua, the mayor of Oleshok said that Moscow is looking for a person who would head the city after taking over.

"Now they are looking for a representative who would head the city. I don't know, surnames aren't called yet", he added. "Look, don't go out one more time so that there are no unpleasant consequences", he said.

Ryschuk, in his video message, said that the city of Kherson is already being patrolled by Russian troops and that by April 23 they will have full control over it. Notably, the Ukrainian authorities have recently warned that Russian forces are occupying some parts of the southern Ukrainian cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and are planning to stage a sham referendum declaring a so-called "Kherson People's Republic" in the coming days. The Ukrainian president had asked citizens to avoid handing over personal information like passports, driving licenses, or answering questionnaires to the occupying forces.

Russian forces have buried 9,000 Ukrainians in a mass grave: Mariupol city council

This comes after the Mariupol city council said yesterday in a post on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces have buried a total of 9,000 Ukrainians in mass graves in a village outside the city of Mariupol. He said that the Russian troops have been trying to bury evidence of their "barbaric" war crimes in the port city of Mariupol by dumping the bodies of civilians killed in the shelling. Notably, the satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies revealed new graves in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on the site of an existing cemetery in the village of Manhush, 20 km (12 miles) west.

Image: AP/ Representative