Russian troops launch attack on Kherson, says Ukraine

Ukraine officials today said Russian troops have begun an assault on Kherson, a city in the south between Mykolaiv and New Kakhovka.

"According to eyewitnesses, the enemy is advancing from the airport to the Nikolaev highway and a ring near the cold storage plant", Ukraine's State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection reported on its Telegram channel in the past hour.

Earlier, BBC Ukraine reported that powerful explosions were heard near the Kherson airport.

Kherson's regional state administration also wrote on Facebook that the city is surrounded by Russian troops but not captured.

The city's mayor has also said that the Russian army had set up checkpoints at the entrances to the city.

"It is difficult to say how the situation will develop further," mayor Igor Kolykhaye wrote on Facebook, adding: "Kherson was and remains Ukrainian!"

"I ask each of you to remain calm and prudent. Do not go outside during the curfew. Do not enter into aggressive negotiations with anyone and do not provoke the enemy to conflict," the mayor said.