Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, the latest sign of Russia’s retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas in Ukraine.
“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” Mr Putin told pro-Kremlin activists as he marked Russia’s Day of National Unity.
Moscow has already been ferrying people out of an area it controls in Kherson on the west bank of the Dnipro River, and this week announced that the evacuation zone would also include a 15km buffer area on the east bank.
But the comments appear to be the first time Mr Putin has endorsed the evacuations personally.
Russia says it has been taking residents to safety from the path of a Ukrainian advance. Kyiv says the measures have included forced deportations of civilians, a war crime, which Russia denies.
Mr Putin’s comments came amid signs Russia could be preparing to abandon its military foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro River, including Kherson’s regional capital – potentially one of the biggest Russian retreats of the war.
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On Thursday, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed occupation administration in Kherson, said Russia was likely to pull its troops from the west bank. In later remarks, he was more equivocal, saying he hoped there would be no retreat but “we have to take some very difficult decisions.”
Late on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fiercest fighting over the last week had taken place around Bakhmut and Soledar, in the eastern Donetsk region about 500km northeast of Kherson.
“We are holding our positions in these and a few other areas in the Donetsk region,” he said in a video address, accusing Russia of insane stubborness for sending “tens or hundreds of thousands more people to the meat grinder.”
During the day Ukrainian forces had downed eight Iranian drones and two Russian missiles, Mr Zelensky said.
Kherson under curfew
Pictures have circulated on the internet showing the main administration building in Kherson city with Russia’s flag no longer flying atop it. Kyiv has been wary, saying such signs could be Russian deception to lure Ukrainian troops into a trap.
A 24-hour curfew was imposed on the city today, Mr Stremousov said, adding the measure was necessary to defend Kherson from a likely Ukrainian offensive.
Ukrainian soldiers in a mechanised infantry company dug in on a tree line west of Kherson city were confident the Russians would eventually retreat, but would fight as they fall back.
Vitalyi, 48, the company’s deputy commander, said recent Russian efforts to beef up their defences appeared aimed at protecting a withdrawal rather than holding Kherson.
“They have large amounts of tanks and people, but I don’t think they have a realistic plan to stay more than one or two weeks,” he said, as his men took advantage of unusually mild weather to improve bunkers and clean weapons amid thumps of intermittent artillery fire.
Vladyslav, a 27-year-old soldier, said he expected the Russians would fight.
“We will fight as well. We have nowhere else to go. This is our home. This is our land.”
The regional capital, on the west bank at the mouth of the Dnipro, is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. Its loss for Russian forces would be one of the severest blows of the war.
Winter just weeks away
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of war crimes during the eight-month-long war, charges that Moscow rejects. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, though the conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities and towns.
Its attacks in the past few weeks on Ukrainian energy and water supplies have hit civilians hard as winter approaches, the Kyiv government said.
Temperatures can fall far below freezing in winter, now just weeks away.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he believed Ukrainian forces could retake Kherson, in perhaps his most optimistic comments on the counter-offensive to date.
A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some Russian military commanders had rebased across the river to the east.
“We would assess that in Kherson, it’s likely that most echelons of command have withdrawn now across the river to the east, leaving pretty demoralised and often in some cases leaderless troops to face off Ukrainians on the other side,” the official said.
Russia has fought for months to hang on to the pocket of land it holds in the west bank at the mouth of the Dnipro River that bisects Ukraine.
Ukraine has attacked the main river crossings for months, making it difficult for Russia to supply its force on the west bank.
Ukrainian troops have been advancing along the river since the start of October, although their advance had slowed in recent days.
Putin endorses evacuation of parts of Kherson
Source: Viral Trends Report
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