The pro-Russian authorities call for the “immediate” evacuation of the city of Kherson in light of the Kiev troops’ counter-offensive
Russia on Saturday intensified its bombing of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with a “massive attack,” according to the description of the president, Volodímir Zelensky. The missile launch hit several regions in the west and south of the country, including the capital Kiev, leaving 1.5 million Ukrainians without a stable power supply, according to government information. Meanwhile, the advance of Ukrainian troops has forced pro-Russian authorities in the city of Kherson to urge the civilian population to evacuate the city of Kherson “immediately”. The region of the same name was occupied by the Russians from the beginning of the invasion and annexed by Moscow in September.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive has prompted Russia to rethink its strategy, which in recent weeks has focused on destroying the invaded country’s electricity and water supply facilities. “These are vicious attacks on critical objects. Typical terrorist tactics,” Zelensky denounced on social media.
The latest bombings reached various points, from the Volhynia region, located in the northwest, to southern Zaporizhzhya. “The air defense has sprung into action. Stay in the shelters,” the mayor of Lviv warned, in a message very similar to his counterpart in Kiev, urging the population to hide in their homes or find a safe place.
Zelensky’s top adviser, Mikhailo Podoliak, warned that Russia is trying to spark another refugee crisis in Europe by evicting Ukrainians from their homes with the coming of winter. “Whether Vladimir Putin will be able to carry out his plan depends on the leaders of the European capitals,” he said on Twitter. “If there is no electricity or water, a new migrating ‘tsunami’ could be triggered,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal insisted in an interview in the same sentence. “People can freeze to death. That could lead to a planned humanitarian catastrophe like none seen since World War II.”
According to energy company Ukrenergo, “the extent of damage” caused by Saturday’s bombing is “comparable to or perhaps exceeds the effects of the October 10-12 attacks,” when Russia reacted harshly to the explosion of the bridge connecting Crimea with Ukrainian territory.
Now Moscow is also suffering on the Kherson front. Faced with the advance of the Kiev army, thousands of civilians have left the city since the beginning of the week via the Dnieper River. But yesterday was the first time the pro-Russian authorities called for an evacuation. “All citizens must leave the city immediately,” they warned via Telegram. They justified the call “in a growing danger of mass bombing”.
Retaking Kherson, which fell to the Russians in the early days of the invasion at the end of February, would be a great success for Ukrainian forces. Unseen since World War II, the Russians have had to resort to the age-old tactic of building a temporary bridge of linked pontoons or barges to get people across the Dnieper.
Source: La Verdad
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