Russia on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of Ukrainian civilians from a large area in the south of the country it invaded eight months ago, citing what it called a risk of Kiev’s use of unconventional weapons.
After emptying areas of Kherson west of the Dnieper River, where the eponymous capital of the province annexed on September 30 with three other regions of Ukraine is located, the Russians now want to establish a 15 km buffer zone on the east bank of the body of water. .
“Due to the possibility of the use of prohibited means of war by the Ukrainian regime, as well as information that Kiev is preparing a massive missile attack on the Khakhova hydroelectric plant, there is an immediate risk of flooding in the Kherson region,” Vladimir Saldo said in a video. the governor installed by the Kremlin.
It is an exchange of accusations within the informational warfare underlying the conflict. Kiev had said the Russians intended to blow up the region’s main Khakhova dam and say there is a high risk of using a low-powered tactical nuclear bomb against its troops. Thus, the Russian allegations would be a smokescreen for atomic action.
Moscow, on the other hand, is going in the opposite direction, with Tuesday’s accusation about the dam and, since last week, that Ukraine intends to use a dirty bomb to force Russian nuclear action.
This type of rudimentary artifact combines conventional explosives and radioactive material, as simple as elements used in X-ray machines, to generate contamination. Kiev, of course, denies the attempt. Last week, reaffirming that he works with the hypothesis, Putin nevertheless said that using an atomic bomb against his neighbor “does not make sense, politically or militarily”.
The withdrawal has been called a “war crime” by the Kiev government, as it in its view amounts to the forced deportation of residents. According to Saldo, the seven most populous cities on the banks of the Dnieper will be affected by the measure.
The Kherson region is the subject of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the wake of the Russian withdrawal from Kharkiv in the northeast, which fell after a surprise attack by Kiev in September. But reinforcements with the partial mobilization decreed by Putin on 21 September appear to have stabilized the lines to the south.
The highly unpopular call-up was considered over on Friday, with 300,000 reservists called in — 80,000 of whom are already in combat, according to the Defense Ministry. But the president has not signed a formal decree on this, suggesting further steps could be taken.
The creation of a buffer zone also implies the formation of an acceptable border for the Kremlin, in case any negotiations are actually opened to end the conflict. The Dnieper, which cuts through Ukraine, is seen by many observers as a territorial boundary for Putin.
Of course, none of this counts if in the end there is some tragic confrontation, whether with floods or radioactive or atomic weapons.
On Tuesday, the attacks continued. In Mikolaiv, north of Kherson, four Russian missiles were fired this morning (dawn in Brazil), and one of them destroyed a residential building. The objective, however, appeared to be a power distribution station, a constant target at this stage of the war.
On Monday (31), there was a major attack on energy infrastructure, called Putin retaliation for the use of drones against the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol, in Crimea annexed in 2014.
In addition, Moscow suspended the program funded by Turkey and the UN that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain through a maritime corridor. As Putin said in a televised speech, the attacks “are not all we could have done.”
At least 60% of the Ukrainian energy structure is broken. This Tuesday, Kiev returned to electricity and running water, which depends on electric pumps, after spending much of Monday in the dark. The pressure on civilian targets also anticipates a winter of hardship for Ukrainians.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
