Russian authorities evacuate towns in Kherson and describe a "tense" situation in the capital of the province

The Ukrainian offensive to recapture Kherson is drawing ever closer to the provincial capital.

The commander of the Russian Armed Forces, Sergei Surovikin, hinted this Tuesday, in his first interview since he took office, that the authorities could soon remove the population from him.

"The army will guarantee the already announced safe departure of the population within the resettlement program that the Government is preparing," said Surovikin, who stressed that his future plans regarding the region's capital "will depend on the military situation- emergent tactic.

The commander also assured that the situation in Ukraine is "tense", especially around this occupied city in the south of the country, the most relevant along with Mariupol with which Vladimir Putin's troops have taken control since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. last February 24.

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The president of the Russian Duma, Viacheslav Volodin, announced on Tuesday that Parliament would be in charge of preparing the accommodation for an evacuation that he promised "voluntary".

Days before, the governor imposed by the Kremlin in the occupied territory, Vladimir Saldo, announced that the inhabitants could be transferred to the Russian regions “to rest”.

Balance, without citing names, has announced the evacuation of four towns in the province of Kherson near the Dnieper River.

Surovikin justified this population transfer with an alleged threat to Ukraine against a nearby dam and bridges.

“Food delivery is difficult;

and there are certain problems with the supply of water and electricity.

All this not only significantly complicates the lives of citizens, but also creates a direct threat to their lives”, he pointed out before warning that his forces“ do not exclude making difficult decisions ”regarding the local population.

The also head of the Russian Aerospace Forces put figures to his air war.

According to Surovikin, his aircraft have made more than 34,000 flights in which they have fired more than 7,000 missiles and guided bombs.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces began a slow but steady advance towards Kherson province from the northwest and from the south last July.

Volodímir Zelensky's government considers the reconquest of Kherson to be the most important military mission of the war, as he himself stressed in July.

The city of Kherson is the westernmost point Russian forces have reached, almost at the gates of Odessa.

In addition, it is the only provincial capital that they have taken.

The Ukrainian withdrawal in Kherson, at the beginning of March, and practically without planting opposition to the invader, is one of the worst defeats of the kyiv forces in the war because, in addition, it has prevented Ukraine from accessing a good part of its coast of the Black Sea.

Unlike the rapid takeover last September of the province of Kharkov, in the east of the country, the Ukrainian counteroffensive on Kherson has as its main obstacle that the Ukrainian forces will have to overcome the Russian defenses on the Dnieper River, the most important in the country, a natural barrier difficult to overcome.

In fact, according to the Russian General Staff, in recent weeks the kyiv troops have unsuccessfully attempted to land several soldiers on the eastern bank of the river as it passes through the provinces of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

The counteroffensive on Kherson also served in July and August as a strategy to reduce Russian military power in Kharkov.

kyiv was periodically reiterating at the time that a major offensive on Kherson was imminent, prompting the enemy's reaction to move major battalions from the east to the south.

This helped make the surprise Ukrainian offensive to liberate the entire Kharkov province a success.

Ukrainian authorities also warn that thousands of citizens of the Kherson region have been forcibly transferred to Russia.

50% of the province's inhabitants, some 500,000 people, have left their homes in the months before the war, according to the Ukrainian military high command in the area, bound for the western provinces of Ukraine or towards the European Union.

Many have made this journey by entering the Baltic countries from Russia.

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