Speculation swirled over whether Russia was indeed pulling out, after photos circulated on the internet showing the main administrative building in Kherson city with Russia’s flag no longer flying atop it. Ukraine said those images could be Russian disinformation.

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, said it could be a Russian trap.

“This could be a manifestation of a particular provocation, in order to create the impression that the settlements are abandoned, that it is safe to enter them, while they are preparing for street battles,” she said in televised comments.

On Thursday, Russian forces have launched three missile and 16 air strikes on Ukrainian targets as well as more than 40 shelling episodes, the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Thursday night.

On the southern front, Russian fire hit more than 35 towns and there were more than 30 reconnaissance missions by drones, the statement said.

Ukrainian aircraft made 12 strikes on eight Russian-occupied areas where men and equipment were concentrated, hitting four anti-aircraft units, the military said. Ukrainian artillery also struck three areas with men and equipment and two ammunition depots, it said.

Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.

A Ukrainian foreign ministry statement accused the Russian authorities of carrying out “mass forced movement of residents” in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces in the south and Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east “to the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea or to the Russian Federation.”

Russia had ordered civilians to evacuate from occupied areas on the west bank, and this week ordered them out of a 15km buffer zone on the east bank as well. Kyiv says those evacuation orders amount to forced deportation, a war crime.

Stremousov urged civilians remaining in Kherson city to leave immediately, saying they were putting their lives in danger.

“The situation in Kherson is clear as mud,” tweeted Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies at the Centre for Naval Analyses think tank.

Loading

“Russian forces seemed to withdraw from some parts, evacuated, and drew down, but also reinforced with mobilised personnel. The fighting there is difficult. Despite constrained supply, Russian forces do not appear to be out of ammo.”

The European Union’s top diplomat said international partners had a moral duty to continue to support Ukraine in its fight against the invasion during the winter months.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the German town of Muenster that Putin was resorting to attacks on the civil infrastructure because of setbacks on the battlefield.

“Putin’s Russia is destroying Ukraine. They cannot occupy it, they cannot win on the battlefield, they cannot win the war - and they are destroying the country systematically,” the diplomat told reporters.

Reuters