No signs of life in occupied Russian Kherson
2022.11.01 10:30
No signs of life in occupied Russian Kherson
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – In the southern part of Ukraine, the Russian-held port of Kherson’s streets and boulevards are virtually deserted. A few people board a ferry to leave at a jetty on the Dnipro River’s banks, where many shops and businesses have closed.
In recent weeks, Russian-installed officials there have evacuated tens of thousands of civilians as Ukrainian forces advance to the north and east of the crucial city.
Only a few are still around, and some of them expressed their dismay at not knowing what lay ahead.
The claims and counterclaims made by both sides in the eight-month-old conflict, which Russia refers to as a “special operation,” that a nearby dam might be destroyed, causing floods downstream, add uncertainty.
According to a pensioner who declined to provide his name, Vladimir, Russian-installed officials mentioned the possibility of flooding or a Ukrainian counter-offensive during the evacuation from Kherson.
On Monday, he stated, “That’s the worst thing for us.” Not knowing what lies ahead.”
Men were peacefully fishing on the waterfront nearby. Witnesses claimed they could hear what sounded like artillery fire in the distance.
A shopkeeper named Ekaterina stated that after so many customers left, business had slowed abruptly. She added that she had no choice but to remain.
“Why should I move from my family’s home? Here are my ancestors’ homes. My grandfather and great-grandfather. This house was built entirely by them. Why ought I to leave?… What’s the purpose? I will remain here until the end.”
After staging referendums in four Ukrainian regions at the end of September that Kyiv and the West deemed fraudulent and illegal, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to annex the Kherson region.
After regaining some of the territory that was lost earlier in the conflict, the Ukrainian military has moved closer to the city. They claim that Russia has been strengthening its presence in the region to protect Kherson from an attack.
The Russian-backed head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, has asked residents on the eastern bank of the Dnipro to begin leaving their homes in an extension of the evacuation zone. The Kherson region is partially occupied by Russian forces.
According to Saldo, the new area will include seven additional settlements and extend for an additional 15 kilometers (nine miles) around the Dnipro, which divides the Kherson region.
He made the same assertions, which Kiev rejected, that Ukraine might be preparing to attack the Kakhovka dam and flood the area.
Kyiv denies that it intends to attack the dam, a 30-meter (100-foot)-tall, 3.2-kilometer barrier, releasing a reservoir the size of the Great Salt Lake across southern Ukraine and flooding villages and towns.
Ukraine asserts that Russia’s repeated assertions that Kyiv is preparing to strike the dam, which regulates water supplies to the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula and the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, were evidence that Russia was considering carrying out an attack and laying the blame on Kyiv and its Western backers.
