KYIV\/MIKOLAIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin ordered all of Russia to support the war effort in Ukraine on Wednesday, as the Russian-appointed administration of Kherson prepared to evacuate the only regional capital Moscow has captured during its invasion.<\/p>\n
Images of people using boats to flee the southern city were broadcast by Russian state TV, which portrayed the exodus – from the right to left bank of the River Dnipro – as an attempt to evacuate civilians before it became a combat zone.<\/p>\n
The Russian-installed chief of Kherson – one of four Ukrainian regions unilaterally claimed by Moscow where Putin declared martial law on Wednesday – said about 50,000-60,000 people would be moved out in the next six days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ukrainian side is building up forces for a large-scale offensive,\u201d Vladimir Saldo, the official, told state TV. \u201cWhere the military operates, there is no place for civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff at Kherson\u2019s Russian-backed administration were also being relocated to the left bank of the Dnipro, he said, although he said Russia had the resources to hold the city and even counter-attack if necessary.<\/p>\n
Eight months after being invaded, Ukraine is pressing major counter-offensives in the east and south to try to take as much territory as it can before winter after routing Russian forces in some areas.<\/p>\n
Russian forces near Kherson have been driven back by 20-30 km (13-20 miles) in the last few weeks and risk being pinned against the western bank of the 2,200-km (1,370-mile) Dnipro, which bisects Ukraine.<\/p>\n
In televised remarks to his Security Council, Putin boosted the powers of Russia\u2019s regional governors and ordered the creation of a coordinating council under Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to support his \u201cspecial military operation\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the \u201centire system of state administration\u201d must be geared to back up the Ukraine effort.<\/p>\n
\u2018DEOCCUPATION\u2019<\/p>\n
It was unclear what the immediate impact of Putin\u2019s declaration of martial law would be, beyond much tighter security measures in Kherson and the other three regions.<\/p> But Kyiv, which along with the West does not recognise Moscow\u2019s self-styled annexations, derided the move. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called it \u201ca pseudo-legalisation of (the) looting of Ukrainians\u2019 property.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis does not change anything for Ukraine: we continue the liberation and deoccupation of our territories,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin had found himself in a difficult position and his only tool was to brutalize Ukrainian civilians. The U.S. State Department said it was no surprise that Russia was resorting to \u201cdesperate tactics\u201d.<\/p>\n Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged intermittent artillery fire on a section of the Kherson front in the Mykolaiv region on Wednesday, the impacts marked by towers of smoke.<\/p>\n Several Ukrainian soldiers said they were aware of the martial law declaration but were not worried, although they warned a visiting Reuters reporter of the danger presented by Russian drones.<\/p>\n \u201cFor sure he\u2019s (Putin) up to no good. We understand that,\u201d said Yaroslav, who declined to give his last name. \u201cBut whatever they are doing, we will screw them anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Oleh, who also withheld his last name, said Russia in the past had warned about what it claimed would be escalatory Ukrainian actions only to carry them out itself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are just concerned about our people in the Kherson region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, though the conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions, pulverised Ukrainian cities, shaken the global economy and reopened Cold War-era geopolitical fissures.<\/p>\n The Kremlin placed a nuclear umbrella over the regions it says it has annexed on Tuesday, among nuclear threats which Britain\u2019s chief of defence staff said signalled desperation.<\/p> \u201cIt is a sign of weakness, which is precisely why the international community needs to remain strong and united,\u201d Tony Radakin said during a speech.<\/p>\n British Defence Minister Ben Wallace met his U.S counterpart in Washington this week to discuss shared security concerns about the situation in Ukraine, a senior defence source said in response to speculation around the sudden trip.<\/p>\n \u2018LOOMING OFFENSIVE\u2019<\/p>\n Ukrainian cities have been struck in recent days by drones and missiles, and on Wednesday, a Russian missile strike hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine, the region\u2019s governor said.<\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has said a third of his country\u2019s power stations have been hit by Russian strikes, discussed security at power supply facilities with senior officials.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are working to create mobile power points for the critical infrastructure of cities, towns and villages,\u201d Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are preparing for various scenarios of possible consequences. Ukraine will defend itself. No matter what the enemy plans and does.\u201d<\/p>\n General Sergei Surovikin, the new commander of Moscow\u2019s forces in Ukraine, gave a gloomy assessment of Russia\u2019s prospects.<\/p>\n \u201cThe situation in the area of the \u2018Special Military Operation\u2019 can be described as tense,\u201d he told state-owned Rossiya 24 news channel.<\/p>\n The position in Kherson was \u201cdifficult\u201d, he said, adding: \u201cThe enemy is deliberately striking infrastructure and residential buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president\u2019s office, accused Russia of laying on a \u201cpropaganda show with evacuation\u201d there.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with fake newsletters about the shelling of the city by our army,\u201d Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.<\/p>\n