KYIV: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wedne­sday declared martial law in four regions of Ukraine rece­ntly annexed by Moscow as his proxy officials in a southern-held city pulled out with Ukraine troops advancing.

Putin’s decree to introduce military rule in the Moscow-controlled regions also gives additional power to authorities in Russian border areas and comes after a string of battlefield defeats.

“We are working on solving very complex large-scale tasks to ensure security and protect the future of Russia,” Putin said.

The decree gives greater powers to limit movement to, from and within the areas and allows for the residents of those territories to be moved to “safe zones”.

Pro-Kremlin officials, meanwhile, said they were pulling out of the key southern Ukraine city of Kherson on Wednesday, as Kyiv’s forces advanced on territory in Russian hands since the war’s earliest days.

Kherson was the first major city to fall to Moscow’s troops since the February invasion began and retaking it would be a crucial prize in Ukraine’s counter-offensive.

“The entire administration is already moving today,” to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, the Kherson region’s Moscow-installed head, Vladimir Saldo, told Russian state television.

But Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian presidency’s chief of staff, called the move a “propaganda show” and accused Russia of “trying to scare the people of Kherson”.

Ukrainian forces “do not fire at Ukrainian cities,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.

Kyiv’s recapturing of swathes of its territory in the east and parts of the south has however been followed by missile and drone strikes that have demolished large parts of Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter. In a third day of attacks on the Ukra­inian capital, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said “several Russian rockets” had been downed over the city.

Evacuations by ferry

Kherson is located on the western bank of the Dnie­per, the same side where Ukra­inian troops have been moving forward in a counter-offensive that began in August.

Saldo said the pull-out, along with the organised movement of civilians from the city, was a precaution and vowed that Russian forces would continue to fight against Ukraine.

Pro-Russian officials have said civilians would only be allowed to leave towards Russia or Russian-held parts of Ukraine.

However, Ukrainian for­c­es have targeted bridges across the river to disrupt supply lines so Russian-installed officials said the evacuations were being done with ferries.

Russia’s Rossiya 24 state television channel showed images of people waiting to board ferries to cross the river.

Local officials said they were planning to move up to 60,000 civilians from the city of Kherson over a period of around six days.

Russia’s military commander for Ukraine operations, General Sergey Surovikin has said the Russian army will ensure “the safe evacuation of the population” from Kherson.

Speaking to Russian state TV on Tuesday, he accused Ukraine of strikes on civilian infrastructure in the region that “create a direct threat to the lives of residents”.

Ukraine has re-captured occupied territory in the east of the country in recent weeks. Its advance in the south has been far slower but has been gaining momentum in recent days. There have also been some Russian advances.

Russian forces on Tuesday claimed to have retaken territory from Ukrainian troops in the eastern Kharkiv region.

It was Moscow’s first announced capture of a village there since being nearly entirely pushed out of the region last month.

Moscow has also been building up its defences in the territory it still holds.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said it was working on building a fortified line of defence in Ukraine’s eastern Lugansk region.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2022