Russian armed forces take control of Ukraine's Izyum city

MOSCOW, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia's armed forces have taken control of the city of Izyum in Ukraine's Kharkov region, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.

Russian forces also hit 60 Ukrainian military facilities over the past day, including two command posts, two multiple launch rocket systems, four ammunition depots, and 47 sites with equipment and military hardware, Konashenkov told a regular briefing.

Meanwhile, according to a spokesman for the Regional Military Administration of Ukraine's southern Black Sea port city of Odesa, the city came under shelling from Russian warships on Thursday.

The strikes were aimed at putting "psychological pressure" on Odesa residents, Bratchuk said on Facebook, without providing information on whether there were any casualties in the incident.

Earlier in the day, the press service of the Ukrainian Naval Forces said on Facebook that the Ukrainian military destroyed the Orsk large landing ship of the Russian forces near Ukraine's southeastern city of Berdyansk.