April 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Murphy, Josh Pennington and Natalie GallonWeeks after first occupying the major Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian troops have taken control of the Kherson City Council, according to two members of the city government.Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said on his Facebook that on Monday night, "armed men entered the building of the Kherson City Council, took the keys and replaced our guards with their own." Addressing rumors that the Ukrainian flag that flew over city council had also been taken down, Kolykhaev noted that the flag was still flying over the building when he left.Yuri Sobolevsky, Kherson regional deputy, described the incident on his Facebook page as a "seizure," saying it was "unfortunately, quite expected."  "Kherson's city hall was 'allowed' to function in a reduced format for a while, but that time seems to be over, too," Sobolevsky continuedFrom CNN's Andrew Carey, Kostan Nechyporenko and Victoria ButenkoTwo days ahead of Russia’s plans to stage a referendum in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed his people’s refusal to give their backing to Russia’s occupying forces.“Russia wants to stage a sham 'referendum' somewhere on our land? At the time, the Ukrainian government and Luhansk regional administration said Russian forces there had been repelled after repeatedly trying to take over the village.From.CNN's Kevin LiptakThe White House says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's declaration the US wants to "see Russia weakened" is in line with the administration's long-held goal to prevent Moscow from consuming Ukraine."What Secretary Austin was talking about is our objective to prevent that from happening," she went on.