Russian President Vladimir Putin last month claimed as Russian territory four regions of Ukraine that he did not fully control then and where he is now having difficulty stopping the Ukrainian advance.
But far from giving up (not his style) the head of the Kremlin has decided to step on the accelerator and on Wednesday declared martial law in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. Yet another twist, similar to the annexation of these provinces that the international community has rejected or the partial military mobilization that has upset a significant part of the Russian population.
The Kremlin chief's decision comes almost eight months after the start of the conflict and when Russian troops are on the defensive on most of the front. Yesterday, Moscow began to evacuate the civilian population of Kherson due to the resurgence of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army.
Putin announced the application of martial law at the start of a meeting of the Russian Security Council, which he himself chaired via videoconference. As he considers this area Russian territory, Putin assured that the measure is justified, since Ukraine "uses armed force against the territorial integrity" of Russia.
The law, later ratified by the Russian Senate, grants sweeping powers to the pro-Russian chiefs of Donetsk, Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, and Kherson and Zaporizhia, in the south. The four territories held express referendums in September to join Russia that the international community has rejected. Ukraine and most Western countries called them "farce" and "fictional."
Given the forecast that the Ukrainian counterattack will reach the city of Kherson, capital of the region of the same name, Russia began yesterday to evacuate the civilian population of that and other towns. It plans to move between 50,000 and 60,000 people in less than a week.
The pro-Russian chief of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, called the population a day earlier to leave the towns of Berislav, Bilozerka, Snihurivka and Oleksandrivka, located on the right bank of the Dnieper. To these was later added the city of Jershon itself. His second, Kiril Stremoúsov, assured that yesterday the Ukrainian troops went on the offensive “in the direction of Nova Kamenka and Berislav”.
In images broadcast by the Russian media, hundreds of people are seen queuing to board the ferries to reach the left bank of the Dnieper. A temporary placement center will be set up there where “everyone will be distributed according to their wishes”, to Crimea, Krasnodar or other Russian regions, pro-Russian authorities have said.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said yesterday that "some 5 million inhabitants" of the four regions annexed by Moscow "have found refuge in Russia."
Ukraine yesterday accused Russia of organizing this evacuation to “try to intimidate” the inhabitants of Jershon. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Moscow was “throwing false notices about shelling over the city by our army”.
The head of the Ukrainian military regional administration, Yaroslav Yanushevich, called on the citizens of Kherson to "ignore what the occupiers tell you or demand." According to him, the Russians "want to take our people hostage and use them as human shields."
The evacuation began a day after Russian General Sergei Surovikin, the new commander of the "special military operation", admitted the difficulties of the Russian troops in Ukraine.
In an unusual confession among the Russian elite, the military man, whom Putin put at the head of the Russian offensive earlier this month, admitted on Tuesday that the situation facing the Russian army "can be described as tense", and is especially difficult in Kherson.
“The enemy intentionally launches attacks against infrastructure and housing buildings in Jerson,” Surovikin assured.
The city of Kherson, which had 280,000 inhabitants before Putin sent the Russian army to the neighboring country on February 24, was one of the first cities to fall to Moscow. It has become a symbol both for the Russians who now defend it and for the Ukrainians who want to retake it.
In its advance, Kyiv has in recent weeks recaptured 75 towns in the north and northeast of the region or more than 1,200 square kilometers, according to data from the Southern Command of the Ukrainian army.
