Moscow is deporting residents along with stolen art, tractors and cars as Ukraine’s forces close in
Things are disappearing in the Ukrainian city of Kherson at a rapid rate. Some are physical objects. Russian troops are taking away ambulances, tractors and stolen private cars. Cultural things are going too: archives, and paintings and sculptures from the art and local lore museums. Even the bones of Catherine the Great’s friend and lover, Grigory Potemkin, have been grubbed up from a crypt in St Catherine’s cathedral and spirited away.
Ukrainian officials were sceptical, too, that Moscow was exiting after nine months. They said newly mobilised Russian troops were creating defensive positions on the outskirts of Kherson, at the same time that checkpoints in neighbouring Chernobaevka and Stepanovka were being abandoned. The disappearance of the Russian flag from buildings was an “informational ruse” to lure Ukrainian forces into a trap, they believe.
Khlan said the occupying Russian authorities had blown up masts, leaving Kherson with no internet or mobile phone connection. Amid this news blackout, Russian officials were urging locals to leave and warning of imminent “terrorist” acts from the advancing Ukrainian military. Moscow also mined the Khakhovka reservoir further upstream, with the apparent intention of flooding Kherson and causing an environmental disaster should it fall into Ukrainian hands.
Nevertheless, a new fallback “border” of sorts appears to be taking shape, with the Dnieper an impregnable natural barrier against future Ukrainian surges. Over the past week, Russian soldiers have evicted Ukrainians from their homes on the river’s left bank. They have then moved in. A defensive line is being established, stretching from the town of Velyka Znamyanka in Zaporizhzhia oblast to Nova Kakhovka in regional Kherson.
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