Russian forces in Kherson are regrouping for a counterattack, amid rapid Ukrainian gains in the region, state-owned news agency RIA reported.
Kirill Stremousov, a Russian-installed official in Kherson region is quoted as saying that forces were “conducting a regrouping in order to gather their strength and deliver a retaliatory blow”.
It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky says his soldiers are moving rapidly to push back Russian forces in the war-hit country’s south, recapturing territory in several regions.
“The Ukrainian army is carrying out a pretty fast and powerful advance in the south of our country as part of the current defence operation. Dozens of settlements have already been liberated from the Russian sham referendum this week alone,” Mr Zelensky said.
According to the latest update from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), Ukrainian formations have advanced up to 20km beyond the river into Russia’s defensive zone towards the supply node of the town of Svatove.
Elsewhere today, president Vladimir Putin has signed a law formally annexing four partly Russian-controlled Ukrainian regions in defiance of international law.
