Russia says it has captured Ukrainian city Melitopol

Russian troops have captured the city ofMelitopolin Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday, the first significant population centre to be taken over since Moscow launched an invasion.

The ministry also said Russia had used air- and ship-based cruise missiles to carry out overnight strikes on military targets in Ukraine.

It said Russian troops had hit hundreds of military infrastructure targets and destroyed several aircraft and dozens of tanks and armoured and artillery vehicles.

Ukrainian officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the matter.