After leading the massive bombings of the last week against the main Ukrainian cities and while Ukraine's power grid remained unusable, Russian General Sergei Surovikin, commander of President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation", is not very optimistic the situation of its forces deployed in the neighboring country and admits that they are in difficulties.
The military man, whom Putin put in charge of the Russian offensive the same day that a truck bomb damaged the emblematic Crimean bridge, admitted on Tuesday that the situation facing the Russian Army "can be described as tense", and is especially difficult in the southern region of Kherson. There "the situation is complicated," he assured in the first meeting with Russian media since his appointment. He further announced that for this reason the population of the city of Kherson, controlled by Russian forces, was being "resettled" in other regions.
Hours after these words, the pro-Russian head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said in a video that the population of four cities was being evacuated in anticipation of a "large-scale offensive". Specifically, it is expected that between 50,000 and 60,000 people will be taken in a period of six days to Russian occupied territory and to the other side of the Dnieper River.
Russia last month claimed to have annexed Jerson and three other Ukrainian regions after holding express referendums that the international community and Ukraine have rejected as "shams".
"The enemy intentionally launches attacks against infrastructure and residential buildings in Kherson," said Surovikin, who is known for his harshness in the second Chechen war and the Syrian war. Because of his actions in these conflicts, Western human rights organizations have described him as a "butcher." In the Russian media and propaganda, by contrast, his past is seen as a quality and he has been nicknamed "General Armageddon".
Russian forces have been trying in recent days to contain the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Kherson. "The situation is not easy," Surovikin said. It is unusual for senior Russian officials to admit problems in the conflict that began on February 24, when Putin ordered the Army into Ukraine.
"Further actions and plans regarding the city of Kherson will depend on the development of the tactical-military situation, which is not easy. We will act consciously, at the right time, without ruling out difficult decisions," he added.
Kherson, located on the western bank of the mouth of the Dnieper River, was one of the first cities to fall into Russian hands. It has become a symbol for both the Russians who defend it and the Ukrainians who want to retake it.
After the setbacks suffered in the Ukrainian counteroffensive in September, when Kyiv recovered almost all the lost ground in the Kharkiv region (northeast), Moscow cannot afford to give up this position. In addition, it is the capital of a region that borders the Crimean peninsula, essential to ensure the land connection of this territory annexed in 2014 with Russia.
In its counterattack strategy, the Ukrainian Army has tried to cut off the Russian Army's supply lines to Kherson, destroying the main bridges that cross the Dnieper.
Russian forces have been losing ground since September, both in the east and in the south. The only area where they are still making progress is in Bakhmut, a city in the eastern province of Donetsk that they have been trying to take over since the summer.
On October 10, after Surovikin's appointment as head of the Russian forces deployed in Ukraine, Russia began a series of massive bombings against numerous Ukrainian cities, affecting energy infrastructure and the civilian population. Since that day, "30% of Ukrainian power plants have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts throughout the country," acknowledged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. One of his advisers admitted that "the situation is critical," and asked that the whole of Ukraine is prepared for possible "electricity, water and heating failures".
