Ukraine has accused Russia of looting empty homes in the city of Kherson and occupying them with troops in civilian clothes to prepare for street fighting in what both sides predict will be one of the war’s most important battles.
Key points:
- Kyiv describes the evacuation of Kherson as forced deportation, as Russia says it’s for the safety of residents
- Moscow has denied catastrophic losses in an elite unit after a letter was made public
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says 50,000 mobilised soldiers are fighting with combat units
In recent days Russia has ordered civilians out of Kherson in anticipation of a Ukrainian assault to recapture the city, the only regional capital Moscow has seized since its invasion in February.
Kherson, with a pre-war population of nearly 300,000, has been left cold and dark after power and water were cut to the surrounding area over the past 48 hours, both sides said.
Russian-installed officials blamed Ukrainian “sabotage” and said they were working to restore electricity.
Ukrainian officials said the Russians had dismantled 1.5 km of power lines, and electricity probably would not return until Ukrainian forces recapture the area.
Kyiv described the evacuation of the area as a forced deportation, a war crime.
Russia said it is sending residents away for safety.
The city lies in the only pocket of Russian-held territory on the west bank of the Dnipro River that bisects Ukraine.
Recapturing it has been the main focus of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the south which accelerated since the start of October.
The situation inside Kherson could not be independently confirmed.
Ukrainian forces on the nearby frontline have told Reuters in recent days they expect a bitter fight against Russian troops.
“While Kherson residents are being forcibly deported from their homes, talking about ‘evacuation’, Russian military and FSB officers are doing what they love most — robbing their houses,” Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Monday.
“Robbery of those whom they came to ‘protect’ — the best ‘Russian world’ illustration.”
Ukraine’s military said in an update that Russian forces, “disguised in civilian clothes, occupy the premises of civilians and strengthen positions inside for conducting street battles”.
It also alleged that Russian journalists were preparing to stage videos accusing Ukraine of hurting civilians, a charge Russia denies.
Russia sent thousands of troops to reinforce the Kherson area but has hinted in recent days that it could pull out.
The deputy head of the Russian-installed administration, Kirill Stremousov, said last week that Russia was likely to withdraw across the river.
‘They call people meat’
Russia lost all of the territory it captured in northern Ukraine in the weeks after the invasion, and in recent months has faced major setbacks in areas it still holds in the east and south.
President Vladimir Putin has responded to the losses by calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists and announcing the annexation of occupied territory.
But as more and more troops get sent to the front and casualties mount with few fresh signs of gains, there has been increasing disquiet within Russia over the war.
Russia’s Defence Ministry took the rare step on Monday of denying that an elite unit had suffered catastrophic losses in a pointless assault, after Russian military bloggers posted an open letter from surviving members of the Pacific Fleet’s 155th marine brigade.
In the letter, addressed to Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of the unit’s Pacific coast base home region, the marines said that over just four days their unit had lost 300 men killed, wounded or missing, and half of their equipment.
They blamed generals seeking medals and bonuses: “They spit on everyone just to show off themselves,” the letter said of the commanders.
“They call people meat”.
In a video message, Mr Kozhemyako acknowledged the letter but said it exaggerated the losses: “We contacted the commanders. Yes there are losses, there’s heavy fighting, but they are far from what is written in this appeal,” the Governor said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said: “Due to the competent actions of the unit commanders” only 1 per cent of the marines had been killed and 7 per cent wounded in the operation, many of whom had already returned to duty.
Putin says mobilised troops in combat
Mr Putin said on Monday that 50,000 Russian soldiers called up as part of his mobilisation drive were now fighting with combat units in Ukraine.
He said 80,000 were “in the zone of the special military operation” — the term Russia uses for its war in Ukraine — and the rest of the almost 320,000 draftees were at training camps in Russia.
“We now have 50,000 in their combat units. The rest are not taking part in the fighting yet,” Interfax quoted Mr Putin as saying during a visit to the Tver region, outside Moscow.
In September, Mr Putin announced a “partial mobilisation” drive to call up hundreds of thousands of new fighters for the war after Ukraine recaptured large swathes of territory.
The move triggered an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Russians and anti-war protests across the country.
Last week Mr Putin said a total of 318,000 had been called-up in the draft.
Russia ended the partial mobilisation drive at the end of October, with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu saying on October 28 that around 41,000 Russian fighters had already joined their combat units fighting in Ukraine.
Reuters