Ukraine war: Russian army chief admits Kherson 'tense' amid Ukrainian offensive
The new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine has described the situation around Kherson in the south of the country as "difficult" in the face of Ukrainian offensives, adding that residents are to be evacuated.
It's a rare acknowledgment of the pressures Russian forces are under as Ukraine's army moves to retake areas that Moscow claimed to have annexed just weeks ago.
"The situation in the area of the 'Special Military Operation' can be described as tense," Sergei Surovikin, the Russian air force general now commanding Russia's invasion forces, told the state-owned Rossiya 24 news channel.
On Kherson, Surovikin said: "The situation in this area is difficult. The enemy is deliberately striking infrastructure and residential buildings in Kherson."
Kherson is a symbolic target for Ukraine's government. Russian forces in Kherson have been driven back by 20-30 kilometres in the last few weeks and are at risk of being pinned against the western bank of the 2,200-kilometre-long Dnipro river that bisects Ukraine.
Ukrainian strikes are targeting the city's "social, economic and industrial infrastructure", leading to disruptions in the supply of electricity, water and food, Surovikin said, adding that this was posing a "direct threat to the lives of the inhabitants" as justification for the need to evacuate.
The Kremlin-installed chief in the Kherson region announced on Tuesday an "organised, gradual displacement" of civilians from four towns on the Dnipro River.
Vladimir Saldo said this was to allow the Russian army to install "large-scale defensive constructions" in the face of a "vast counter-offensive" by Ukrainian forces.
Also in the south, a member of the Russian-installed council governing Zaporizhzhia said Ukraine's forces had
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