Russia began on Wednesday to evacuate the population of Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine where its troops are facing a particularly “tense” situation, as Russian strikes again targeted different regions of the country, including kyiv. Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense batteries shot down “several Russian missiles” over the Ukrainian capital, said its mayor, Vitaly Klitschko.
Several explosions were heard by AFP journalists in the early afternoon in the city, shortly after the anti-aircraft siren sounded. “Stay in the shelters. The anti-aircraft defense is still in action,” Vitaly Klitschko said on Telegram.
Information to remember:
- Vladimir Putin introduced martial law in the annexed Ukrainian territories
- Russia prepares to evacuate population from Kherson
- 30% of Ukrainian power plants have been destroyed
- The Russian military has sent in the “last 24 hours” 43 Iranian-made “Shahed-136” drones
kyiv attacked by suicide drones
Since Monday, kyiv has been repeatedly attacked by Russian suicide drones. These strikes targeted energy infrastructure in particular and killed at least five people. In the southwest, the governor of the Vinnytsia region said on Telegram that his territory was targeted by Russian missiles and called for shelter. In the north, the Ukrainian army announced that it had shot down two Russian missiles in the Cherniguiv region. An Iranian-made drone exploded in Cherniguiv, capital of the eponymous region, according to its governor.
EU says it has gathered evidence on Iranian origin of drones
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday it had destroyed 223 Iranian drones since mid-September. Tehran has repeatedly denied in recent days supplying arms and drones to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But the European Union has announced that it has gathered “evidence” demonstrating the Iranian origin of the Russian drones and is preparing sanctions against Tehran.
This “call for help” to Iran is “the Kremlin’s recognition of its military and political bankruptcy”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked on Tuesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that “Russian technology is used, with Russian names”. Washington has threatened to sanction companies or states collaborating in the Iranian drone program.
Evacuation of civilians has started in Kherson
In southern Ukraine, Russian occupation authorities in the Kherson region said on Wednesday that evacuations of civilians had begun. They plan to move “50,000 to 60,000” in a few days to the other bank of the Dnieper River. The pro-Russian administration will also evacuate the city in the face of advancing Ukrainian troops, its leader Vladimir Saldo told the Rossiya 24 television channel, assuring that the Russian army would resist “until death”.
Capital of the region of the same name occupied by Russia since the spring, Kherson is currently targeted by Ukrainian strikes on its “social, economic and industrial infrastructure”, Russian General Sergey Surovikin, recently appointed chief of operations in Ukraine, noted on Tuesday. . He admitted to a “very difficult” situation in Kherson, and “tense” across the country for Russian forces.
“Further actions regarding the city of Kherson itself will depend on the military situation,” he continued, adding without further clarification “not to rule out a very difficult decision-making.” “The Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with false newsletters about the bombardment of the city by our army”, denounced on Telegram the chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriï Yermak.
Putin establishes martial law in the annexed territories
The Russian army, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, is on the defensive along most of the front in Ukraine, retreating since September in the north as well as in the east and south. The only section where it is still advancing is near the city of Bakhmout (east), which it has been trying to take since the summer.
Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered the establishment of martial law in the four Ukrainian territories of Donetsk (east), Lugansk (east), Kherson (south) and Zaporizhia (south) annexed in September by Moscow. And Russia again on Tuesday bombed “the military command and energy systems of Ukraine” in different places in the country, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
“About 5 million people” of Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow – Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – are currently in Russia, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday. “About 5 million inhabitants of Donbass and southeastern regions of Ukraine have found refuge in Russia,” he said after a meeting of the Security Council, quoted by the agencies. Russian press.
About fifty employees of the Zaporijjia power plant “prisoners” of the Russians
According to the Ukrainian president, “since October 10, 30% of Ukrainian power plants have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country” as winter approaches. “The situation is now critical”, explained an adviser to the presidency, asking that Ukraine “prepare” for possible “electricity, water and heating failures”.
Still on the energy front, the Ukrainian operator Energoatom said that around fifty employees of the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, which has been militarily occupied in southern Ukraine by troops from Moscow since March, are “still prisoners” of Russians. Since the start of the war, other workers at this highly strategic site “have been killed” and others “tortured”, according to Energoatom. The place is regularly targeted by bombings, for which kyiv and Moscow reject responsibility, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.
Israel will not supply arms to kyiv
On October 10, Russian bombardments on a scale unmatched for months, also on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, had already left at least 19 dead and 105 injured. kyiv’s Western allies then promised more air defense systems, some of which have already been delivered.
On the other hand, Israel will not supply arms to kyiv, indicated its defense minister. “Our policy towards Ukraine will not change. We will continue to support the West and stand by it, we will not supply Ukraine with a weapon system,” according to Benny Gantz.