Russian forces have repelled Ukrainian attacks in the southern Kherson region and eastern Luhansk area, the Kremlin’s defense ministry claimed today.
As Ukrainian troops continue with their counteroffensive in the east, Russian-installed officials have been evacuating thousands of civilians from Kherson across the Dnipro river.
Kherson’s regional capital is the only big city Russia has captured intact since the start of the invasion.
And the province controls the gateway to Crimea, which Russia seized and claimed to annex in 2014.
On Monday, pro-Russian authorities in the region announced that men who stayed in the area would have the option of joining a military self-defense unit.
However, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military spy chief, told the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet: “They are creating the illusion that all is lost.
“Yet at the same time they are moving new military units in and preparing to defend the streets of Kherson.”
in addition, General Lord Dannatt, a former British chief of staff, told Sky News that the Russians were facing “inevitable defeat in the city, so they are managing the withdrawal to make it look less chaotic”.
He added that Russian forces are still in a defensive position on the battlefield and that is why Moscow is targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
As for Russia’s claims that Ukraine could use a “dirty bomb,” Dannatt agrees with the Institute for the Study of War’s assessment that the main goal is to “obfuscate the bigger picture.”
He says that it is unlikely that Russia is carrying out a “false flag” attack in this case because it has no interest in dropping a dirty bomb on four key areas it has annexed and now considers its territories.
“That will not happen if there is logic in the Kremlin,” Dannatt said.
