Retreating Russian forces are stealing medical equipment and trying to make the Kherson region a “no man’s land”, claimed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russia said on Friday it had finished calling up reservists to fight in Ukraine, having drafted hundreds of thousands in a month and sent more than a quarter of them already to the battlefield after a divisive mobilisation campaign that was its first since World War Two.
But despite the conscription, Russian forces are still unable to make a notable breakthrough on military lines in the east of Ukraine.
British intelligence has said that Russian troops have taken up a “defensive posture on most areas of the front line in Ukraine” with units being largely undermanned.
And Zelensky has said that Russian forces are trying to turn the Kherson region into an uninhabited area with mass theft of medical equipment and ambulances.
Ukrainian troops are gathered in force near Kherson, in the south of the country, prompting Russian-installed officials to evacuate many residents.
Kherson is one of the four regions Moscow claims as part of Russia.
"The occupiers have decided to close down medical institutions in towns, take away medical equipment, ambulances, everything. They are putting pressure on doctors who still remain... to move to the territory of Russia," Zelensky said.
"Russia is trying to make the Kherson region a no man's land," he added, saying pro-Moscow forces realised they could not hold onto the city and were therefore taking what they could.
Ukrainian officials have regularly accused retreating Russian troops of widespread looting.
It comes as the Ministry of Defence has stated that Russian units are badly undermanned with as few as six men in some companies where there should be 100.
It tweeted: "Russia has likely augmented some of its units west of the Dnipro River with mobilised reservists. However, this is from an extremely low level of manning.
"In September 2022, Russian officers described companies in the Kherson sector as consisting of between six and eight men each. Companies should deploy with around 100 personnel.
"In the last six weeks there has been a clear move from Russian ground forces to transition to a long-term, defensive posture on most areas of the front line in Ukraine. This is likely due to a more realistic assessment that the severely undermanned, poorly trained force in Ukraine is currently only capable of defensive operations.
"Even if Russia succeeds in consolidating long-term defensive lines in Ukraine, its operational design will remain vulnerable. To regain the initiative, it will need to regenerate higher quality, mobile forces which are capable of dynamically countering Ukrainian breakthroughs and conducting their own large-scale offensive operations."
