Ukrainian forces push towards Kherson as Kyiv restricts electricity use
- Russian occupation forces in Kherson are resettling civilians amid fears of major Ukrainian attack to retake city
- Ukraine has urged its population to drastically restrict electricity consumption to cope with the destruction of power stations
Ukraine’s military tightened the noose around Russian forces occupying the southern city of Kherson on Thursday as the government ordered nationwide curbs on electricity use because of Russian missile and drone attacks on power plants.
In Kherson, the only regional capital Russian forces have captured since their invasion eight months ago, the Russian-appointed administration began an evacuation of a city that controls the only land route to the Crimea peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014, and the mouth of the Dnipro river.
On Wednesday, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-backed administration in Kherson, wrote on Telegram that Ukraine had launched an offensive towards Novaya Kamianka and Berislav in the Kherson region.
While Ukraine remained tight-lipped about its operations, its military said in an early Thursday update on the Kherson region said 43 Russian servicemen had been killed and six tanks and other equipment destroyed.
Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.
Footage of people fleeing by boat across the Dnipro river was broadcast by Russian state television, which portrayed the exodus as an attempt to evacuate civilians before it became a combat zone.