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Good Morning,
Kherson, Ukraine
What’s really going on in Kherson as Ukrainian troops advance on Russian forces there?
There’s little doubt the Ukrainian’s are advancing. We’ve seen the areas retaken in recent weeks, and it appears the Ukraine army is squeezing Russian troops from 3 sides.
So a retreat or “staged withdrawal” by the Russian is prudent but whats this big show all about?
‘The show’ consists of announcements by President Putin that he is declaring marshal law in the four areas of Ukraine that he has declared part of Russia now, following sham annexations.
So under marshal law his troops can use gunpoint to move citizens of those areas to do as he pleases, or squeeze locals into fighting for his army? Well he was doing that anyway so what’s the real reason?
The small print of the announcement indicates Putin’s marshal law plan extends to parts of Russia’s border cities where there has been attacks by Ukraine such as Belgorod and could be expanded easily to quell unrest elsewhere.
So Putin is attempting to tighten his grip on Ukrainian and Russian areas, with concern he needs more authority to do so.
Another part of the Kremlins media show is airing footage of people and their luggage on the banks of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region after Moscow announced it was evacuating tens of thousands of local residents.
“People are getting on the ferry and going to the temporary accommodation centers,” one apparent volunteer said on the pro-Kremlin TV.
“After that, the people are directed to where they want to go. They either stay on [the other] shore or go to the Russian Federation.”
Whether those people actually want to leave is another question, and forced displacement of Ukrainians is a common practice already in Ukraine. That includes forced removal of thousands of children into Russia from Ukraine, according to many human rights groups.
Martial law gives Putin’s security forces more excuses to demand people leave their homes, and come under Russian rule including those not seen to be sympathetic to Russia’s occupation. There are lot’s of those.
"Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with fake messages about the shelling of the city by our army and are also staging a propaganda show with the evacuation," Andrii Yermak, the chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volydymyr.
Kyiv dismissed the evacuation as a sham and accused the Kremlin of trying to frighten locals into fleeing.
The fact that Russia’s new military commander Sergei Surovikin said that “difficult decisions” might be necessary is another strange statement. Surovikin (also nicknamed General Armageddon) may just be noting Russian troop withdrawal, or something more sinister.
The Russian appointed Governor Vladimir Saldo has recently warned Ukraine intends to destroy a major dam at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. It could be Russia wants to flood the area.
As predicted, panic and desperation in the Kremlin grows as Ukraine advances to reclaim territories the Russians invaded in Putin’s war.
Over a million Russians have fled their homeland to avoid the draft, and to protest the war in Ukraine. The battle field toll is growing daily as losses including wounded and KIA combined is estimated to approach a 100 thousand in just under 8 months of fighting.
The war seems lost for Russia. But Putin is determined to push forward whatever the price, even if that includes collapse of his regime. If only that would happen, say Ukrainians. That would end the war rather than escalate the conflict which seems to be the only alternative.
Dana Lewis