You are here
Home > News > Russian troops plunder Kherson ahead of major standoff, Ukraine claims

Russian troops plunder Kherson ahead of major standoff, Ukraine claims

Russian troops are ransacking empty homes in the southern city of Kherson and logging thier troops in civilian disguise, according to Ukrainian reports, to brace for street fighting in what both belligerents predict could turn into one of the most important battles of the war.

After Russia removed civilians from Kherson and cut power and water from the city over the past 48 hours, something both Kyiv and Moscow have confirmed, Russian troops are moving into the apartments and engaging in plundering.

Installed in the city with a pre-war population of nearly 300,000, Russian officials claim the water and power cut result from Ukrainian “sabotage” and say they are working to restore the electricity.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials say the Russians have dismantled 1.5 km of power lines, and that electricity is unlikely to return until Ukrainian forces recapture the area.

As to the evacuation of civilians organised by the Russian occupiers, Kyiv says they were forced and is calling them out as a war crime. Moscow, claims the opposite, saying it was sending residents away from danger and into safety.

A momentous battle for the only regional capital that Russia has managed to occupy since launching its heinous invasion on February 24 hangs in the air. Now the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south has been focused in the vicinity of this city and the Russian-held pockets of territory on the west bank of the Dnipro River. Since the start of October, the Ukrainian foray has been revving up, wedging deeper into occupied areas.

But as Reuters stressed, reporting on the developments, the situation inside Kherson cannot be independently confirmed. Reuters was told by Ukrainian forces on the nearby frontline they expected a fierce fight against Russian troops determined to exact a blood price before being forced out.

While Kherson residents are being forcibly deported from their homes, talking about ‘evacuation’, ru-military and FSB officers are doing what they love most — robbing their houses,” Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Monday.

While Kherson residents are being forcibly deported from their homes, talking about "evacuation", ru-military and FSB officers are doing what they love most — robbing their houses. Robbery of those whom they came to "protect" — the best "Russian world" illustration.

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) November 7, 2022

Ukraine’s military said in an overnight update on Russian forces, that they are “disguised in civilian clothes, occupy the premises of civilians and strengthen positions inside for conducting street battles.”

But Moscow, shamelessly, denies abusing civilians.

Thousands of Russian troops descended on Kherson to reinforce the forces trenched there. Still, Moscow has hinted in recent days it could withdraw from the city. Last week, the deputy head of the Russian-installed administration, Kirill Stremousov, said Russia was likely to withdraw across the river, although there was silence from his higher-ups in Moscow.

Russian generals’ greed and Russians’ broiling disquiet

Whether Russia would consent to take a blow to its propaganda by drawing back from the city is uncertain, especially when one recalls how it lost all of the territories it captured in northern Ukraine in the weeks after the invasion. Moreover, Moscow has faced major setbacks in the east and south in recent months.

To mitigate these losses, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin mobilised hundreds of thousands of reservists and announced the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories. He said on Monday that 50,000 newly called-up reservists were already fighting in combat units.

However, it seems that the large scope of forces sent to Ukraine does not translate into Russian gains, which, in turn, feeds the dissatisfaction of Russians, be they civilians or military service people, at home.

Not being able to suffer the weight of truth, Russia’s defence ministry denied on Monday that an elite unit had suffered catastrophic losses in a pointless assault. The denial was a response to a reveal by Russian military bloggers who posted an open letter from surviving members of the Pacific Fleet’s 155th marine brigade.

Addressed to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the unit’s Pacific coast base home region, the letter read that over just four days the marine’s unit had lost 300 men killed, wounded or missing, and half of their equipment. They blamed generals seeking medals and bonuses, who “call people meat”, Reuters reported.

Although Mr Kozhemyako acknowledged the letter, in a video message, but said it overstated the losses: “We contacted the commanders. Yes there are losses, there’s heavy fighting, but they are far from what is written in this appeal,” the governor said.

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed, instead, that “due to the competent actions of the unit commanders” only 1 percent of the marines had been killed and 7 percent wounded in the operation, many of whom had already returned to duty.”

Nationalistations and the reining in of oligarchs

Meanwhile, Kyiv announced the state takeover on Monday of Ukraine’s biggest oil refiner and producer, and companies that make trucks, electric transformers and aircraft engines, marking the biggest restructuring of Ukraine’s economy since the war began.

The move that authorities presented as a wartime emergency measure appears in line with a long-standing aim of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to rein in “oligarchs”. The nationalised companies are associated with billionaires once known for wielding political power in Kyiv.

Monday dawned without major barrages of Russian missiles for the first time in about a month as Mondays became synonymous across Ukraine with renewed Russian air strikes. Targeting civilian infrastructure with the aim of destroying Ukraine’s energy system, Russia would often carry out its high-intensity strikes during morning rush hour on Mondays since October 10.

Kyiv citizens were told by Ukraine’s grid operator to brace for more blackouts. Other regions were also warned on Monday about possibly recurring blackouts, The operator seeks to reduce the strain on damaged energy infrastructure. It scheduled shutdowns in Kyiv and the regions of Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava.

President Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that more than 4.5 million consumers were without power.

Both the White House and the Kremlin declined to comment on a report in the Wall Street Journal that U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had held talks with aides to Putin, aiming to reduce the risk of escalation.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Top