Such a scenario would confirm Russia’s intention, anticipated a few weeks ago by members of the High Command, to unify all those territories in order to complete the occupation of the Odessa area and also add the separatist region of Transnistria. The quest to use the war to create a “Greater Russia” that would deprive Ukraine of its access to the sea was flagged as a strong possibility by US Intelligence Director Avril Haines on Tuesday.
Steps
The path to achieving that goal, which includes Kherson, is the strategic port city of Mariupol, where Ukraine says around 1,000 soldiers remain trapped in increasingly harsh circumstances at the Azovstal steelworks. These massive facilities are the last bastion of the resistance in the city, which has seen relentless destruction.
In the city of Zaporizhia there is a similar steel plant, called Zaporizhstal, also built in the time of Stalin and which could also serve if necessary to defy the Russian invasion.
“We can stay in the shelters for a long time,” said Ihor Buhlayev, 20, a Zaporizhstal employee, as molten metal flowed and sparked behind him. “I think it will allow us to survive,” he said.
“There will be a request (to the Russian president) to make the Kherson region a full subject of the Russian Federation,” said Kirill Stremusov, deputy head of the civil-military administration of this territory located just north of the Crimean peninsula.
The conquest of Kherson is so far Moscow’s only real military success since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, as its troops and allied local militias are still fighting to seize all of the Luhansk and Donetsk territories. , in the Donbas region.
Response
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, yesterday reacted favorably to the idea of an annexation stating that “it is up to the inhabitants of the Kherson region to decide whether they should make a request” to Putin.
“Crucial decisions of this kind must have an absolutely clear legal foundation and legitimate grounds, as in the case of Crimea,” he stressed, according to the Sputnik news agency.
In the ground
After the first stage of the invasion, which included mobilization of troops and attacks in kyiv and other areas of northern Ukraine, Russia is now concentrating on establishing its territorial gains in the southeast and its offensive in the east.
“They come in waves,” Mykola, a volunteer fighter, said of repeated Russian attempts to push south, past a strategic river near a rural settlement called Bilogorivka.
Further north, around the major city of Kharkov, kyiv authorities announced they had recaptured four villages in a counteroffensive launched on Tuesday.
“The towns of Cherkasy Tychky, Rusky Tychky, Rubijne and Bayrak were liberated,” the Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook.
“The occupants are gradually being expelled,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said for his side, in a “good news” speech from Kharkov.
“I thank all of our fighters who stand firm and show superhuman strength to drive off the invading army,” he added.
The northern and northeastern districts of Kharkiv, which had about 1.5 million inhabitants before the war, have been bombarded by Russian rockets for weeks, killing civilians.
In kyiv, the capital that has been almost empty since the beginning of the Russian invasion, almost two thirds of its 3.5 million inhabitants have returned, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to pressure Western countries for more support.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
