Russia is bringing new military units to Kherson as it prepares to defend the city from any new Ukrainian attack, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency said in an interview with Kyiv-based news website Ukrainska Pravda.
Major General Kirillo Budanov said that while Moscow was moving the wounded, money, administrative authorities and Russian financial institutions out of the city, it was sending more troops.
“[Russian bank] “Promswisbank and other financial structures that the Russians brought there are being disposed of,” Budanov said.
“They take the money, [internet] The servers, the so-called occupation authorities … are taking out all the people who do not walk, those who are seriously injured, trying to get those who can walk as quickly as possible from the hospitals … They create the illusion that everything is lost,” added Budanov.
“And at the same time, on the contrary, they bring new military units there and prepare the streets of the city for defense.”
Budanov said Moscow was acting out of fear that Ukrainian forces might retake the important Kakhovka Dam, which lies to the east of Kherson, and cordon off its forces in the city.
“They understand that if we at least take control of the Kakhovka Dam… they will have to make a decision very quickly. Also [they will have to] And soon they leave the city and leave, or they risk ending up in the same situation in which our units in Mariupol found themselves earlier. ”
Understanding all this, they prepare the ground so that, if necessary, they can get out of there very quickly. However, they are not preparing to leave now. They are preparing to defend.”
Repeat Budanov the allegations That the Russians had “partially scrapped” the dam.
He said that he did not believe that the Russian forces would completely destroy it, because doing so would flood a large part of the Kherson region and cut off the water supply of the annexed Crimea and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
In other words, if you do a complete destruction, the scenario will be as follows. Are they ready for that? “I don’t think so,” he said.