The new commander of Russia's military in Ukraine said Tuesday residents in Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region would be moved due to Ukrainian forces pushing forward in the south and east.
Driving the news: "The enemy continually attempts to attack the positions of Russian troops" in the areas of Kupiansk and Lyman in the east and Mykolaiv-Krivyi Rih in the south, Gen. Sergei Surovikin told the state-owned Rossiya 24 television news channel, per a Reuters translation.
- The situation in the region "can be described as tense," said Surovikin, an air force general who was appointed commander of Russia's invading forces earlier this month as the Russian military suffered setbacks and Ukraine reclaimed territories.
- "Our further plans and actions regarding the city of Kherson itself will depend on the emerging military-tactical situation. ... it is already very difficult today."
Meanwhile, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of areas of Kherson controlled by Russia's forces, confirmed in a Telegram post the "organized transfer of the civilian population" in the region along the Dnipro River, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing in recent weeks.
The big picture: Kherson is one of four partially occupied regions Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month.
Between the lines: While Russian forces have bombarded Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with deadly "kamikaze" Iranian drones in recent days, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update Wednesday that "major elements of Russia's military leadership are increasingly dysfunctional."
- "At the tactical level, there is almost certainly a worsening shortage of capable Russian junior officers to organise and lead newly mobilised reservists."
What we're watching: Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy administrator of the Kherson region, said in a Telegram post: "In the very near future, the battle for Kherson will begin."
- Civilians were "advised to leave the area of the forthcoming fierce hostilities, if possible, so as not to expose themselves to unnecessary risk," Stremousov added.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
