Tuesday, as indications of a big conflict for control of the area developed, Russia began to drive Ukrainian citizens from their houses in a larger area of occupied Kherson.
Since the Russian invasion in February, Kherson is the only provincial capital that has been taken, and Ukrainian officials say they are determined to recapture it. On Tuesday, Russian troops were reportedly bolstering defensive positions all around the city as Ukrainian forces advanced gradually under intense artillery fire.
According to the Ukrainian military, the requests for people to leave the area made by occupation authorities were a part of a plan to frighten and deport tens of thousands of civilians across the Dnieper River to regions in the east that are still firmly under Moscow’s authority.
Russian-controlled local authorities claimed the transfer was necessary to safeguard citizens, although Kherson-based sources revealed less noble reasons for removing the city.
A Kherson resident named Tetiana, 60, claimed on Tuesday that “they bully individuals and force them to move.” She requested that her last name not be revealed for fear for her safety. Russian soldiers “grab the homes of those who departed and plunder everything,” she continued.
Kherson, which is located roughly 340 miles south of Kyiv, is strategically significant as a gateway to the Black Sea and Crimea and offers Russian invaders a route to Ukraine’s southern shore. Russia would suffer a psychological and geopolitical hit if it lost it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that a military mobilisation order that caused hundreds of thousands of Russian troops to leave the nation was no longer in effect as Russian forces prepared for what may end up being a crucial fight in Kherson. Putin told reporters, “It’s done, end of story.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian air defence personnel were finishing their training in Norway on how to operate the advanced systems that would enable Ukraine fend off the barrage of aircraft assaults Moscow has been launching against its infrastructure.
The end of the training would pave the way for the delivery of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, known as NASAMS. The first two should arrive in Ukraine in the next several days, U.S. officials said. The NASAMS are equipped with radar-guided missiles powerful enough to take down fighter jets, military drones and cruise missiles.
A day after cruise missiles nearly completely cut off the water supply in Kyiv’s capital, officials declared that service had been fully restored on Tuesday.
