A think group has concluded that Russia is building the groundwork to demolish a crucial Ukrainian dam, which would flood Kherson and hide its exit from the city.
In recent days, General Surovikin, Russia’s new supreme commander in Ukraine, spoke to Russian media about what he termed a “devastating strike” on the Nova Kakhovka dam, which he claimed was being planned by Kiev’s forces.
Surovikin, who has also been preparing the Russian people for a withdrawal from the region, stated that the explosion will inflict significant flooding and devastation in the city of Kherson.
The Institute for the Study of War has reached the conclusion that this is likely planning for a ‘false-flag attack’ that would hide Russia’s retreat and serve as a diversion from its most recent battlefield humiliation.
The breaching of the dam would also be another blow to Ukraine’s already ravaged electricity sector, with rolling four-hour blackouts beginning today after a third of the country’s power facilities were destroyed in less than a week.
Ukraine has already targeted the dam multiple times with long-range rockets due to the fact that a critical supply route for Russia’s forces passes directly over it.
But Kyiv’s attacks ceased after the road was rendered impassable.
The national grid operator of Ukraine announced that nationwide blackouts will begin today at 7 a.m. local time and continue each day until 10 p.m.
People are advised to stock up on ‘warm socks and blankets, as well as hugs for family and friends,’ as winter approaches and nightly temperatures fall below freezing.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s infrastructure with hundreds of missiles and suicide drones in an apparent effort to undermine the civilians’ resolve to continue the conflict.
Such attacks constitute a violation of international law.
In a speech delivered in the evening, Zelensky warned that “Russian terror will target energy facilities” and asked the nation to begin conserving electricity at 7 a.m.
He added that the government was “working on the development of mobile power supply points for urban and rural essential infrastructure.”
Vitaliy Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, urged citizens not to turn on big electrical appliances, stating that “even a minor savings and reduction of electricity consumption in each residence will assist to stabilize the operation of the national energy system.”
Ukraine stated that it had intercepted’several Russian rockets’ over Kyiv on the third consecutive day of strikes on the capital, with Zelensky adding that ten Iranian-made drones aimed at the city were also destroyed on Wednesday.
Facing humiliation at the hands of the Ukrainian army, Russia has resorted to off-the-field attacks in an apparent effort to persuade Zelensky to accept a peace agreement favorable to Moscow.
Putin’s new commander, Sergei Sorovikin, has begun preparing the groundwork for a retreat from the city, indicating that the Kremlin’s most recent setback in warfare may be brewing in southern Kherson.
Yesterday, Volodymyr Saldo announced that 60,000 civilians will be evacuated over the next six days, hinting that a war for control of the city might begin within a week.
A Ukrainian representative described Russia’s demand to flee Kherson as “akin to expulsion.” The city has been under Moscow’s control since the beginning of the invasion.
Putin’s objective is to generate terror in Kherson and a propaganda-fueling picture, according to Sergiy Khlan, who added that Ukrainian forces continued to advance southward in a counteroffensive.
He stated that the Russians were using the evacuations as an excuse to justify their withdrawal from Kherson and the right bank of the Dnieper River in general.
Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov condemned Moscow’s action as unlawful.
Danilov stated, “Putin’s martial law in the annexed parts of Ukraine is a precursor to the mass deportation of the Ukrainian population to economically devastated regions of Russia in order to alter the ethnic composition of the occupied territory.”
Pro-Russian officials in the village of Oleshky across the Dnieper reported that people of the city of Kherson had already begun to arrive.
The Russian television station Rossiya 24 broadcast photos of people waiting to board ships because Ukraine had damaged bridges.
Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed leader of the Kherson region, stated on Russian state television that the city’s government would move east of the Dnieper.
Putin’s imposition of military rule in Moscow-controlled territory offers authorities in southern Russian districts bordering Ukraine more authority to suppress opposition as events on the ground accelerate.
Putin stated, “We are working on solving extremely complicated, large-scale problems to assure security and safeguard Russia’s future.”
Local officials stated that they intended to relocate up to 60,000 civilians from Kherson over the course of approximately six days.
Ukraine and the United States have condemned the use of Iranian-made drones by Russia, as evidenced by several videos and photographs.
It is believed that Iran has been supplying Russia with kamikaze drones because their missile inventories are running short.
Separately, the secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, stated that approximately five million Ukrainians from Russian-held regions had “taken refuge” in Russia.
Ukraine’s tenacity has garnered international praise, and the European Parliament gave the annual Sakharov Prize for human rights to “brave” Ukrainians on Wednesday.
Zelensky tweeted in response, “Every day in the battlefield, Ukrainians demonstrate their commitment to the values of freedom and democracy.”
In areas of Ukraine recently regained from Russian forces, meanwhile, repairs were underway prior to the beginning of winter, with many residents still reliant on humanitarian assistance.
Ivan Zakharchenko, a 70-year-old citizen of Izyum waiting for relief in the square where Zelensky celebrated the town’s liberation a month ago, stated, “Apart from this, nothing is working.”
In recent weeks, Ukraine has regained occupied land in the east. Its progress in the south, though considerably slower, is gaining momentum.
As of Tuesday, Moscow reported that its soldiers have recaptured area in the eastern Kharkiv region.
Wagner, a Russian mercenary organization, stated that it was constructing a “layered defense” in the Lugansk region.
Meanwhile, Russian military continue to hold the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
The head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency Energoatom, Petro Kotin, told AFP on Wednesday that approximately 50 plant staff are presently being held by Russian military.
Russia’s attacks, in response to Ukrainian military successes, have destroyed substantial portions of the Ukrainian electrical grid in advance of winter.
The administration has warned of the possibility of blackouts, citing the destruction of almost 30 percent of Ukraine’s power plants.
Following attacks on Monday and Tuesday, multiple explosions were heard in the center of Kiev on Wednesday.
Kiev and its Western allies have accused Moscow of employing Iranian-made drones, with Ukraine claiming to have shot down 233 of them since mid-September.
The Kremlin and Iran have rejected these allegations, but EU foreign policy spokesperson Nabila Massrali stated that the EU possessed “sufficient evidence” and will prepare further sanctions against Iran.