Russian forces seize key Ukrainian port as they fight on multiple fronts

As the toll of war mounted, a second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was expected later on Thursday in neighbouring Belarus — though the two sides appeared to have little common ground

A rocket fragment lies on the ground next to a building of Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) after a rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Wednesday March 2 2022 (Andrew Marienko/AP)

Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another as part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline, even as Moscow said it was ready for talks to end the fighting that has sent more than one million people fleeing over Ukraine’s borders.

The Russian military said it had control of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.