The Russian head of administration for the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson asked Moscow on Thursday to evacuate civilians from the area. Apparently the Russian troops are expecting fighting.
Cherson – The Cherson Oblast with the capital of the same name is located in southern Ukraine and borders on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. At the beginning of October, the Russian troops had to retreat about 20 kilometers north of the sector of the strategically important region. British intelligence reports are now pointing out that Russia apparently wants to consolidate the new front line in the Ukraine war – and is possibly expecting fighting in the urban area of the seaport city of Cherson.
Ukraine War: What Makes the Kherson Region Strategically Important
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin wants to keep the city of Cherson at all costs. It was the first major city to fall to Russian troops since the beginning of the war. US newspaper reports New York Times (NYT) According to the report, the Russian president even interfered directly in the military strategy and issued orders to the front in view of the successful Ukrainian counter-offensive. He had forbidden his generals in the region to withdraw, according to a report at the end of September. This put the lives of Russian soldiers at risk and undermined their morale.
In October, when Ukrainian soldiers patrolled the streets of the recaptured village of Velyka Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region, they found handwritten messages on walls and fences. “Whatever we do, we will not leave this life alive,” read one NYT– According to Monday’s report, one of the graffiti that could be taken as an indication of the low morale in the Russian army. From a Russian point of view, there was a fear that a withdrawal could even endanger the land bridge to Crimea – if Ukraine were able to push back Russian forces further. The other access to Crimea is the so-called Kerch Bridge, which was badly damaged by an explosion on Saturday.
The Kherson region currently remains one of two regions in which the Ukrainian troops are continuing their counter-offensive. An intelligence report from the British Ministry of Defense now indicates that the Russian occupation authorities are apparently anticipating impending fighting within the city of Kherson.
British intelligence information: Russian troops trying to hold new line of front
According to the report from London, Russian troops are now trying to consolidate a new frontline west of the town of Mylowe. Mylove is about 100 kilometers north-east of the city of Cherson and was occupied by Russian troops in March. The British report stressed that this line was still heavily contested, especially at its western end. There, the Ukrainian advance meant that the Russians no longer benefited from the protection of the Inhulez River. Most of the Russian units are also undermanned, according to the British experts.
“In the past few days, the Russian occupation authorities have probably ordered preparations to evacuate some civilians from Kherson,” the British Defense Ministry said on Twitter. It is therefore likely that they expected fighting within the city to come. Shortly thereafter, it became known that the Russian-installed administration of the Moscow region requested the evacuation of civilians from Kherson.
War in Ukraine: Pro-Russian authorities in occupied Cherson want to evacuate civilians
“We have proposed that all residents of the Kherson region who want to escape from (Ukrainian) attacks can go to other (Russian) regions,” Prime Minister Vladimir Saldo told Telegram on Thursday. “Take your children with you and go,” he called on the residents. Saldo had previously indicated that Russia in the region was also asking people to “volunteer” to put together a reconnaissance battalion, according to information from war experts at the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The ISW experts, citing Ukrainian sources, also stated that Iranian trainers are currently teaching Russian armed forces how to use Shahed-135 drones. Accordingly, the Iranian trainers are said to be stationed in the cities of Salisnyj Port and Hladivtsi in the Cherson region. Meanwhile, Ukrainian military officials confirmed on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops had liberated five settlements in northern Kherson Oblast and are now increasingly attacking Russian military installations in Kherson and regions with a high concentration of troops.
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