KYIV, Ukraine — The Russian military is forcibly moving people from occupied areas near the city of Kherson, southern Ukraine, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday, suggesting it could indicate that the Moscow’s forces may be preparing to withdraw further from that area in the face of an expected Ukrainian counterattack.
Russian forces withdrew from Kherson in November and withdrew to just across the Dnipro River, from where they continued to launch regular attacks on the city. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army warned that the Russian occupation authorities are preparing to evacuate civilians from territory they still control in the wider Kherson region in the face of any potential counterattack.
On Sunday, the head of Ukraine of the Kherson regional council, Oleksandr Samoylenko, said evacuations had begun.
“I have information that the evacuation started today with the pretext of protecting civilians from the consequences of fierce fighting in the area,” Samoylenko said. He said the army was “trying to rob as much as possible” as they retreated.
The assertions could not be independently verified and there was no immediate comment from Russian authorities. At other points in the war, however, evacuations from Russian-occupied areas resulted in Russian forces eventually retreating to Ukraine’s advances. And from Moscow’s perspective, Kherson is one of several regions of Ukraine that are now legally part of Russia.
The recapture of Russian-occupied territories in southern Ukraine is believed to be one of the potential targets of a counter-offensive anticipated by Ukraine, and Mr. Samoylenko’s remarks came as analysts military reports that small groups of Ukrainian forces have Recently occupied swamp island on a stretch of the Dnipro river near the city of Kherson which is in Ukrainian hands.
Citing Russian military bloggers, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research group, said in a report on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had attacked the Russian military. dug in the riverbanks about a mile outside Kherson. And residents of the city contacted by phone on Sunday say that Ukrainian troops have been increasingly active along the river.
Ukrainian officials – who have kept the details of any counter-attacks tight-lipped – were tight-lipped about their military’s movements on Sunday. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Military Command, did not confirm or deny reports that Ukrainian forces were advancing across the Dnipro River. She said that Russian forces are “stealing everything they can get their hands on: household appliances, factory equipment, even ATMs,” adding, “Whenever the Russians start steal everything, which means they won’t come back.”
A raid occurred before the Russians abruptly withdrew from the city of Kherson in mid-November. A few weeks before they left, the Russians wiped out factories, shipyards, car dealerships and car dealerships. Kherson’s important collection of fine art and priceless antiques. Ms. Humeniuk said that Russian forces were preparing new lines of defense along the river and commanders had sent in the Russian National Guard to monitor other soldiers and make sure they were not trying to defect. .
Ukraine’s Western allies hastily dispatched tanks, field cannons and artillery shells ahead of a counterattack, although supplies have so far failed to meet their pledges, according to the report. leak secret documents.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continued to attack Ukrainian cities with rockets, mortars, artillery fire and air strikes over the weekend, killing at least one person and destroying homes as well. as critical infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
Damage reports came from a variety of hot spots: Kherson; Kharkiv, in the northeast; and the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, in the Donbas region of Ukraine, where Russian forces were slow but steady promotion. Occupying Bakhmut and the entire Donbas region is a priority for Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
“The fierce battles for Bakhmut city continue,” according to the Sunday newspaper morning update from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army. But the update highlights that Bakhmut was hardly the only target, and that Russian forces have unleashed dozens of airstrikes and other artillery attacks across the country.
“The threat of further airstrikes and missiles over the entire territory of Ukraine remains high,” the battlefield update said. The Ukrainian reports cannot be independently verified.
In the two southern regions alone, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, Russian forces have attacked more than 30 settlements with mortar and artillery fire in the past 24 hours, according to the update. In the Zaporizhzhia area, which is partially occupied by Russia, Russian forces are building fortifications, deploying anti-tank weapons and laying many mines to prevent counter-attacks, Ukrainian officials said.
Here’s what else is happening in Ukraine:
Deadly Mine: The Kherson Regional Military Government said a 30-year-old man from an agricultural town died after he “caught a Russian explosive.” The report does not provide more details, but more 100 Ukrainians killed by landmines and other concealed explosives left behind by Russian forces, Ukrainska Pravda . news agency report on saturday, quoted Ruslan Berehulia, a Ukrainian mine clearance official. The dead included six children, he said.
Ukrainian teams have been deployed to clear landmines in liberated areas, but experts believe there are still thousands of Russian landmines, snares and traps are hidden all over the country. An area more than four times the size of Switzerland The United Nations estimates it to be unsafe because of landmines. Ukraine’s military has also deployed thousands of anti-personnel landmines in apparent violation of an international treaty banning their use. a report by Human Rights Watchalthough not on the scale used by Russia.
Diplomatic outrage: The Chinese Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, caused demoralization in Europe by suggesting that states that broke away from the former Soviet Union do not have full status in international law. In an interview with French network TF1 on Friday, Mr. Lu was asked if he thought Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, was part of Ukraine under international law. He noted that Crimea has historically belonged to Russia and was handed over to Ukraine. He added, “Even these former Soviet states do not have an effective status in international law, as there is no international agreement defining their status as sovereign states. “
Mr. Lu has a history of making bellicose remarks, and his latest comments seem to go against Beijing’s claim to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states. China and Ukraine established diplomatic relations in 1992. But China also echoed Russia’s claim that NATO expansion in Eastern Europe provoked Putin to go to war in Ukraine.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, called the comments “ridiculous” while a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said Beijing would clarify whether Mr. Lu’s comments reflected Mr. their stance or not, Reuters reported.
Steven Erlanger And Chris Buckley contribution report.
