Russia’s new Ukraine commander signals civilian removals from ‘tense’ Kherson |

The new commander of Moscow’s army in Ukraine has announced that civilians were being “resettled” from the Russian-occupied southern city of Kherson, describing the military situation as “tense”.

“The enemy continually attempts to attack the positions of Russian troops,” Sergei Surovikin said in his first televised interview since being appointed earlier this month, adding that the situation was particularly difficult around the occupied southern city of Kherson.

Surovikin’s statements on Tuesday came amid repeated military setbacks for Russian forces prompting Moscow’s dependence on Iran, which is sending missiles and drones.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that military advisers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were on Ukrainian soil, at a Russian military base in occupied Crimea. The Iranians were reported to have been deployed to help Russian troops deal with problems with the Tehran-supplied fleet of Shahed-136 drones, rebranded as Geran-2 by the attackers.

Russian forces have been trying to hold off a fierce Ukrainian counter-assault in Kherson, a region in the south of Ukraine that Moscow claimed to have annexed last month after staging a sham referendum.

Surovikin admitted that the situation in Kherson was “not easy”.

“Further actions and plans regarding the city of Kherson will depend on the developing military-tactical situation, which is not easy. We will act consciously, in a timely manner, without ruling out difficult decisions,” he added.

The comments appeared to mark a rare acknowledgment of the difficulties facing Russian forces. But it was not immediately clear whether Surovikin, the ruthless general now in charge of the war, was hinting at a looming Russian withdrawal from Kherson or a fresh round of airstrikes.

Kherson, which lies near the mouth of the Dnipro on the west bank, was one of the first cities to fall to Russia after the invasion on 24 February and is a crucial strategic and symbolic target for Ukraine’s government.

Gruelling fighting has been reported in the region since the start of Ukraine’s counter-offensive at the end of the summer, with both sides suffering steep casualties.

The Ukrainian army has sought to pinch off Russian supply lines to Kherson by destroying the two main road bridges across the Dnipro. Kyiv has recently introduced a news blackout in the south of the country, leading to speculations that it was preparing a new major offensive on Kherson.

“When the Ukrainians have a news blackout it means something is going on. They have always done this before when there is a big offensive push on,” Michael Clarke, a former director general of the Royal United Services Institute, told Sky News.

“I am guessing in the next 48-72 hours they might tell us what is happening,” he added.

Shortly after Surovikin’s statements, the Russian-installed head of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said in a video address that people in four towns in the Kherson region were being moved, in anticipation of a “large-scale offensive”.

Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy administrator of the Kherson region, echoed the message on Telegram late on Tuesday. “The…