The Ukrainian health minister says that 198 people have been killed and more than 1,000 others have been wounded in the Russian offensive.
Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said Saturday that there were three children among those killed. His statement made it unclear whether the casualties included both military and civilians.
He said another 1,115 people, including 33 children, were wounded in the Russian invasion that began Thursday with massive air and missile strikes and troops forging into Ukraine from the north, east and south.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address to the nation had said that 137 civilians and military personnel were killed on Friday, Feb 25, since the Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, the Russian armed forces earlier in the day established full control over the Ukrainian city of Melitopol in the south of the country, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.
“Units of the Russian Armed Forces have established full control over the city of Melitopol,” Konashenkov told reporters.
(with agency inputs)
