New Russian general admits situation ‘tense’ at front

The admission from Sergei Surovikin came as the evacuation of civilians was ordered from the key southern city of Kherson.

Ukrainian gunners let rip on the northern front this week. Picture: AFP

Russia announced the evacuation of civilians from a key southern Ukrainian city overnight on Tuesday as it acknowledged the situation for its troops on the ground in Ukraine was “tense” in the face of a counter-offensive.

Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, scrambled to rebuild damaged energy facilities across the country following a series of deadly Russian strikes and President Volodymyr Zelensky charged that Moscow’s purported use of Iranian-made drones in the attacks highlighted its “military and political bankruptcy”.

Sergei Surovikin, appointed invasion commander this month by President Vladimir Putin, said the army was preparing to evacuate civilians from the city of Kherson, which is part of the four regions in Ukraine that Moscow recently claimed to have annexed.

Kherson was the first city to fall to Russian forces after the Kremlin launched its invasion on February 24, but Ukrainian troops have been pushing increasingly closer to the city in recent weeks as part of the counter-offensive.

“The Russian army will above all ensure the safe evacuation of the population” of Kherson, General Surovikin told state TV, describing the situation as “very difficult” both for civilians and Russian soldiers. “The enemy is not abandoning its attempts to attack Russian troop positions,” he said. Vladimir Saldo, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Kherson region, announced on Telegram “an organised relocation of civilians” from several of the region’s municipalities to the left bank of the Dnipro river.

Ukraine warned of an emerging “critical” risk to its power grid after repeated Russian bombardments had destroyed a third of the country’s power facilities as winter approaches, according to the presidency.

Russian attacks rocked energy facilities in Kyiv and urban centres across Ukraine, causing blackouts and disrupting water supplies.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people had been killed in Tuesday’s strikes.

“The situation is critical now across the country,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, told Ukrainian TV. “It’s necessary for the whole country to prepare for electricity, water and heating outages.”

Drones also bombarded Kyiv on Monday, leaving five dead, officials said, in what the presidency described as an attack of Russian desperation after a string of battlefield losses.

Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in the strikes, a move Mr Zelensky portrayed as a sign of Russia’s failure.

“The very fact of Russia’s appeal to Iran for such assistance is the Kremlin’s recognition of its military and political bankruptcy,” Mr Zelensky said in his daily address.

Many towns and cities in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, and parts of the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine were without electricity, leaving some hospitals to operate on backup power.

National emergency services said that after 10 days of strikes on energy facilities, more than 1100 towns and villages in nine regions had been left without power and more than 70 people were killed and 290 injured.

Kyiv on Tuesday also accused the Red Cross of “inaction” over its prisoners held by Russia, saying a lack of visits to detained soldiers and civilians meant they were vulnerable to being tortured.

And Ukraine’s state nuclear energy agency charged that Russia had detained two senior employees at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine and the UN nuclear watchdog asked to help secure their release.

AFP