Russian soldiers are preparing for the “heaviest of fights” in the vital southern province of Kherson, according to a top Ukrainian official, as the Kremlin prepares to protect Ukraine’s biggest city.
Russian soldiers in the area have recently been pushed back. They now face being stranded on the west side of the Dnipro River, where Russian forces had held the provincial capital of Kherson since the early stages of their invasion of Ukraine eight months ago.
The Russian-installed authorities have encouraged residents to move to the east bank. Still, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, claimed there was no indication that Russian soldiers themselves were getting ready to leave the city.
“Kherson makes things obvious. There, the Russians are refilling and fortifying their force “Late on Tuesday, Arestovych remarked in a video posted online.
“It indicates that no one is getting ready to go. On the other hand, Kherson will face its toughest difficulties.”
READ MORE: UK PM Sunak Delays Fiscal Statement until November 17
Kherson is likely the most crucial strategically of the four regions Russian President Vladimir Putin declared seized in September. The mouth of the massive river that divides Ukraine, the Dnipro, and the single land access point to the Crimean peninsula Russia annexed in 2014 are under its authority.
A former pro-Ukrainian Kherson regional council member, Yuri Sobolevsky, said that the authorities established by Russia were placing more and more pressure on Kherson inhabitants to leave the city and go to Russia.
About the questioning and imprisonment of civilians by Russian soldiers before some are brought deeper into Russian-held areas, he said on the Telegram messaging service, “Search and filtration processes are escalating, as are inspections of automobiles and residences.”
People are being evacuated, according to Russia, for their protection.