- A senior Ukrainian official predicted “the heaviest of battles” to come for the partially Russian occupied strategic southern province of Kherson and said Moscow’s military is digging in to face advancing Ukrainian forces.
- For weeks, officials in the Russian-backed administration of Kherson have broadcast warnings of Ukrainian forces about to attack the city and have evacuated thousands of civilians by boat to the eastern bank of the Dnipro from the west bank.
- Since Russian forces suffered major defeats in September, Putin has doubled down, calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists, announcing the annexation of occupied territory and repeatedly threatening to use nuclear weapons.
Russia, Ukraine to fight ‘heaviest of battles’ in Kherson
