Russia announced the evacuation of civilians from a key southern Ukrainian city on Tuesday, while admitting that the situation for its troops on the ground in Ukraine is “tense” in the face of a counter-offensive.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials scrambled to rebuild damaged energy facilities across the country in the aftermath of a series of deadly Russian strikes, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in the attacks, highlighting its “military and political bankruptcy.”
Russian General Sergey Surovikin, who has been in charge of recent operations in Ukraine, said the army was preparing to evacuate civilians from the city of Kherson, which is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow recently claimed to have annexed.
Kherson was the first city to fall to Russian forces following the Kremlin’s February 24 invasion, but Ukrainian troops have been pushing closer to the city in recent weeks as part of a successful counter-offensive.
Surovikin told state television Rossiya 24 that “the Russian army will above all ensure the safe evacuation of the population” of Kherson, calling the situation “very difficult” for both civilians and Russian soldiers.
