Ukraine to begin evacuations in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions as winter sets in

Ukraine is to evacuate civilians from recently liberated areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, amid fears that the damage to infrastructure caused by the war is too severe for people to endure the winter.

The government would provide transportation, accommodation and medical care, she added.

The liberation marked a major battlefield gain, while the evacuations highlight the difficulties Ukraine is facing after heavy Russian shelling of its power infrastructure as winter sets in.

More recently, however, Moscow appears to be building up forces and increasing its military efforts on the eastern Donbas front where the two sides have been locked in a bitter and inconclusive struggle for months, not least around the key town of Bakhmut.

With the Kremlin sending fresh reinforcements to the area, as well as troops previously deployed in the south, the Russian armed forces and the Wagner mercenary group have begun intensifying efforts to break that long and bloody stalemate, with unconfirmed reports of the use of incendiary munitions against Ukrainian positions.

While the situation in the recently liberated areas of the south led to the evacuations announcement, it is barely better in many other parts of the country.

News of the evacuations came as a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had caused widespread damage, but concluded that there were no immediate nuclear safety or security concerns at the Russian-held facility.

The reactors are shut down but there is a risk that nuclear fuel could overheat if the power driving the cooling systems is cut.