As ‘governor’ claims streets are calm in flooded Kherson, Russian town of Shebekino is emptying amid heavy shelling
If Vladimir Saldo was trying to project a sense of calm among the deluged frontline towns and villages of Russian-occupied Kherson region, he was failing miserably.
As an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive looms, Russia’s frontlines appear to be in serious disarray, as local mismanagement, military infighting, and callous disregard seem to point to serious problems as the war threatens to come home for Russia. Shebekino, a Russian town of about 45,000 people, has effectively become a frontline city and come under heavy shelling, with all but about 500 residents fleeing from the border area.
“It’s a big question, why is the national guard not all over this, it is their job to protect the border areas, and its completely unclear why they aren’t there,” said Dara Massicot, a senior policy researcher at RAND who specialises in Russian military strategy. “If Russia has to bring in the military to protect its borders it will be a huge embarrassment.
“It is being done for us all to see these scary pictures, that the war is already on our territory,” she said. Asked why the army had not yet launched a serious counterattack, she said: “I don’t know when, I am not our army, all I can do is to pray.”
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine war live: dam near Kherson destroyed by Russian forces, says Ukraine, sparking evacuationsHead of the Kherson region says water will reach ‘critical level’ in coming hours; Zelenskiy to hold emergency meeting over dam blast, says National Security Council
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 468 of the invasionUkraine accuses Russia of blowing up Nova Kakhovka dam; people in parts of Kherson and the surrounding area urged to evacuate
Read more »
A visual guide to the collapse of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka damUkraine accuses Russia of blowing up Dnipro River dam, which has largely been swept away
Read more »