Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Russia says mobilised 300,000 reservists after Ukraine losses
Moscow’s forces have vowed to turn Kherson into a ‘fortress’ faced with Ukraine’s advancing troops in the region
MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that 300,000 reservists have been called up, with Moscow fighting to turn the tide after defeats in Ukraine have left the key southern city of Kherson in Kyiv’s sights.
The announcement of the draft’s completion came as Moscow’s proxies said they had finished a pull-out of civilians from Kherson, which Ukrainian forces were pushing to recapture as winter closes in.
The city, which had a population of around 288,000 people before the fighting, was one of the first to fall to Moscow’s troops in the early days of the February offensive and retaking it would mark a major milestone for Kyiv.
Faced with military losses, President Vladimir Putin announced a military call-up of reservists in September, seeking to mobilise 300,000 people amid fighting in Ukraine.
Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin on Friday in a televised meeting that the call-up - which saw Russian men dashing for the borders to avoid the fighting - had hit its target.
According to Shoigu, 82,000 recruits were already in Ukraine with 41,000 of them deployed to military units.
After making major gains in Ukraine’s east and south, Kyiv’s forces were preparing for a fierce battle to retake the main city in the southern Kherson region.
Moscow’s forces have vowed to turn Kherson into a “fortress” faced with Ukraine’s advancing troops in the region that the Kremlin claims to have annexed.
Kherson evacuation
Since mid-October the occupation authorities have urged Kherson residents to cross to the left bank of the Dnipro River, deeper into Moscow-controlled territory and closer to regions of southern Russia.
By Friday, the movement of residents - which Kyiv has compared to Soviet-like “deportations” - was complete.
Ukraine, Iran hold talks
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had received a phone call from his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on Friday and that he had demanded that Tehran stop sending weapons to Russia.
Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Iran of sending ‘kamikaze’ drones to Russia which have then been used to devastating effect by Russian forces in strikes targeting Ukrainian infrastructure.
Iran denies the charge. “I demanded Iran to immediately cease the flow of weapons to Russia used to kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” Kuleba said.
New US military aid
The US will provide a new $275mn military assistance package including Himars precision rocket launchers for Ukraine to help it battle Russia’s invasion, the Pentagon announced on Friday.