KYIV, Ukraine — With the city of Kherson shaping up to be the site of the next major battle in Ukraine, the occupying forces there pressured residents to flee their homes and leave for Russia on Wednesday, police said. informed that if they stayed they would be considered. hostility and appropriate treatment.
“We’re living, like in a sci-fi movie here,” Kherson resident Katerina, 38, said by phone, asking not to use her full name for safety’s sake. hers.
As windows shook from nearby explosions, pharmacy shelves emptied and prices skyrocketed for what little can be afforded, Katerina described widespread looting and an increasingly tense atmosphere. threaten.
“Everybody is trying to get rid of the Russian money as soon as possible,” she said.
To give an unmistakable warning to those who refuse to leave, a top Russian proxies in Kherson released a nasty video showing a 17-year-old boy being questioned after he was accused of providing information to the Ukrainian military.
Kherson was the first city to fall after the Russian invasion in February, and it is now between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops intent on recapturing. A hydroelectric dam outside the city could be a focus of controversy as it was the last major dam to cross the Dnipro River by Russian forces.
If Ukraine recaptures the dam, thousands of troops may have no way out.
While the Russians pressured the people of Kherson to flee, the Ukrainian government issued another message to the millions of Ukrainians who had gone abroad after the war broke out, urging them not to return home.
With winter approaching and key energy plants badly damaged by Russian air attacks, a senior government official issued a call this week with an estimated 7 million Ukrainians have left for neighboring countries like Poland.
“I will ask you not to come back – we have to survive the winter,” the official, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, told Ukrainian television. “If you get a chance, stay and spend the winter abroad during this time.”
As the situation has stabilized in Kyiv, the capital – initially the focus of the Russian offensive – many Ukrainians have homes that are not located in Russian-occupied areas or places devastated by the attacks. was faced with the choice of whether to return or not.
Moscow’s recent decision to start targeting power and heating plants has complicated that calculation. One series of missiles Starting October 10 destroyed at least 30% of the country’s energy infrastructure, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The state electricity company has imposed energy restrictions in several areas, including Kyiv, while it tries to restore services. And last week, officials urged Ukrainians to limit their use of electricity by avoiding the use of household appliances such as electric kettles. and microwave to relieve pressure on the grid while repairs are made.
Unreliable internet and phone services have made it extremely difficult to find information about what is happening in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine like Kherson, but excerpts appear from the city. on Wednesday through photos and video, as well as from Ukrainian officials and activists, suggesting dangerous conditions for thousands of people are believed to still be there.
The interrogation video released by the Russian proxies in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, shows a young man in a gray hoodie being closely interrogated in a naked room. The authenticity of the video cannot be independently verified.
And in a turning point that creates an absurd atmosphere for the conflict, Mr Stremousov in a post on the messaging app Telegram denounced Ukrainians who refused to leave Kherson as “waiters”, repeating the term masquerading. mockery that Ukrainians use for citizens who are suspected of enjoying the prospect. of a Russian takeover.
Debates continue among those who try to distinguish from afar the Russian military’s plans in Kherson.
Some military analysts say it looks like Russian troops are preparing to leave the city and return to the east bank of the Dnipro River, where they are believed to be consolidating their positions. But there is no sign of a mass flight of Russian troops. In September, President Vladimir V. Putin overtake the Russian commanders American officials said they wanted to withdraw troops across the river.
But Ukraine says it believes Russian forces still have a fighting plan.
“The Russians are replenishing, strengthening their group there,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, a senior adviser to Mr. Zelensky. “Meaning that no one is prepared to retreat. On the contrary, the heaviest battle will be for Kherson. “
As Ukrainian forces battled to advance, the hydroelectric dam outside Kherson has become vital to the fight for the region. The Nova Kakhovka Dam, which holds an amount of water the size of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, is less than 50 miles northeast of Kherson.
General Kyrylo O. Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, said this week that if Kyiv captures the dam, Russian forces “will have to make a decision very quickly – or very, very quickly.” leave the city and get out of there, or risk ending up in a situation similar to what our units in Mariupol found earlier. “
He was referring to the bloody siege of that city during which the besieging Ukrainian fighters held for weeks before being forced to surrender.
In addition to its military value, the dam is also an important piece of infrastructure. Its reservoir is vital to the operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, more than 100 miles away, as it provides water for cooling.
As holding on to Ukrainian territory has become increasingly difficult, Moscow has accused Ukraine of planning to destroy the dam, a claim that Ukraine and its Western allies have denied. Kyiv, when asked why it was flooding its land, suggested that Moscow may be preparing a “false flag” operation to blow up the dam.
And this week, Russian officials claimed without evidence that Ukraine was planning to detonate a “dirty bomb” – which uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material – on its territory, once again raising concerns in the West of a false flag attack. On Wednesday, Mr Putin made the statement public for the first time.
Marc Santora reported from Kyiv, Ukraine and Eric Nagourney from New York. Matthew Mpoke Bigg contribution reports from London, Neil MacFarquhar from Paris and Carly Olson from New York.
