LIVE – War in Ukraine: kyiv strikes back, Moscow evacuates civilians from Kherson

On Ukraine’s eastern front, Bakhmout is one of the last towns where Russian forces, elsewhere in retreat, continue to advance. The small town (70,000 inhabitants before the war) has become, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the “most difficult” point for the Ukrainian forces, who remain in this sector in a defensive position.

Ukrainian soldiers still control the western and northern half of the city, AFP journalists said on Saturday. Separatist forces in the Donetsk region, backed by Russia and maneuvering in this battle, advanced east and south, taking advantage of the proximity of their rear base to the city of Donetsk, 100 km away. On Thursday they announced that they had taken over the two neighboring suburbs, Opytin and Ivangrad.

Russian General Sergei Surovikin, in charge of operations in Ukraine for ten days, said on Rossiya 24 channel that the Russian army was going to “first and foremost ensure the safe evacuation of the population” from Kherson, without further indication.

Capital of the homonymous region occupied by Russia since the spring and annexed in September, this city is currently the object of Ukrainian attacks on its “social, economic and industrial infrastructure,” he said. This leads, according to him, to interruptions in the supply of electricity, water and food, thus representing a “direct threat to the lives of the inhabitants” and, therefore, the need to evacuate.

In the city of Kherson (south) the Russian troops face a particularly “tense” situation in the face of Kyiv’s counteroffensive, which denounced the numerous attacks that targeted its energy infrastructure again on Tuesday. The Russian army, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, is being hit from all sides.

Although it is “very difficult” in Kherson, “the situation in the area of ​​the special military operation can be described as tense. The enemy does not give up its attempts to attack the positions of Russian troops,” said Russian General Sergei Surovikin, in charge of operations in Ukraine. “The Ukrainian regime is trying to break through our defense” by gathering “all its reserves” for the counteroffensive in the south and east.

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