Russia began evacuating civilians from Kherson in southern Ukraine on Wednesday amid moves by Kiev, which said the population transfers were “deportations”.
As developments on the battlefield continued to weigh on Russia, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday imposed sweeping new security measures in a number of Russian regions and imposed martial law in four areas of Ukraine recently annexed by Moscow.
Moscow continued to rain missiles and ammunition on all corners of Ukraine, including Kyiv and the west of the country, which escaped the brunt of the Russian attack early in the conflict.
Ukraine said it shot down “several Russian missiles” over Kyiv for the third day in a row of attacks on the capital.
– generate “panic” –
A Ukrainian representative in the Kherson region called Russia’s push to evacuate the city of the same name the “equivalent of a deportation”. The city has been in Moscow’s hands since the earliest days of the invasion.
“(Putin’s) aim is to create some kind of panic in Kherson and foment image propaganda,” said Sergiy Khlan, Ukrainian forces were still pushing their counter-offensive south.
He said the Russians used the evacuations as a “pretext” to justify “their withdrawal from Kherson and more generally from the right bank” of the Dnieper.
Pro-Russian officials in the Ukrainian town of Oleshky, across the river, said residents from the city of Kherson had already arrived.
Russian TV channel Rossiya 24 showed images of people waiting to board ferries to cross the river, unable to use bridges that have been disabled by Ukraine.
Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-based head of the Kherson region, told Russian state television that the city’s administration would be relocated to the east bank of the Dnieper.
But Khlan, the Ukrainian lawmaker, said the evacuees were destined for Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.
“Russia carries out deportations as in Soviet times,” he said.
– Sakharov Prize –
As developments on the ground gathered pace, Putin’s imposition of military rule in Moscow-controlled areas gives authorities in southern Russia’s regions bordering Ukraine additional powers to quash dissent.
“We are working on solving very complex large-scale tasks to ensure security and protect the future of Russia,” Putin said.
Local officials said they plan to move up to 60,000 civilians from Kherson over a period of about six days.
Separately, Secretary of Russia’s National Security Council Nikolay Patrushev said on Wednesday that around five million people from Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine had “found shelter” in Russia.
Ukraine’s resilience has received global recognition, and the European Parliament on Wednesday awarded the annual Sakharov Prize for human rights to “brave” Ukrainians.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted in response: “Ukrainians demonstrate their commitment to the values ??of freedom and democracy every day on the battlefield.”
Parts of Ukraine recently retaken by Russian forces underwent repairs before the start of winter, and many residents are still dependent on humanitarian aid.
“Besides, nothing is working,” said Ivan Zakharchenko, a 70-year-old resident of Izyum, who waited in line to get help at the square where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated the city’s liberation just over a month ago.
– Employees of the nuclear power plant arrested –
Ukraine has recaptured occupied areas in the east of the country in recent weeks. Its advance in the south, although much slower, has gained momentum in recent days.
There has also been some progress on the Russian side.
Moscow reported on Tuesday that its troops had recaptured areas in the eastern Kharkiv region.
Moscow has also built up its defenses in the area it still holds.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said it was working on establishing a fortified line of defense in Ukraine’s eastern Lugansk region.
“It’s a multi-layered and multi-layered defense,” the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on social media at his company Concord.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to occupy the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest.
Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine’s atomic energy agency Energoatom, told AFP on Wednesday that Russian forces are currently detaining about 50 employees at the plant.
– EU wants to sanction Iran –
Russia’s missile and drone strikes after the Ukrainian battlefield destroyed large parts of Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the winter.
The government has warned of power outages, saying about 30 percent of Ukraine’s power plants have been destroyed. And the presidency said there would be power restrictions starting Thursday.
Drones bombed Kyiv on Monday, leaving five dead.
Then on Tuesday, a power plant in the city was hit by strikes, killing at least two people.
Multiple explosions were heard in the center on Wednesday, before Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said “several Russian missiles” had been successfully launched.
Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones, and Ukraine said it has successfully shot down 223 of them since mid-September.
The Kremlin and Iran have denied this, but EU foreign policy spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said the EU had “sufficient evidence” and would prepare new sanctions against Iran.
