Ukraine is to evacuate civilians from the recently liberated areas of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions due to fears that the damage to infrastructure caused by the war is too severe for people to survive the winter, according to The Guardian, as cited by News.ro.

Residents of two southern regions, which have been regularly bombarded by Russian troops in recent months, are recommended to move to safer areas in the central and western parts of the country, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said.

The government will provide travel, accommodation and medical care, she added.

The evacuation comes a week after Ukraine recaptured the city of Kherson, which remains close to the front line, and areas around it.

The liberation of the city marked a significant victory on the battlefield, while the evacuation underscores the difficulties Ukraine faces after Russia’s heavy bombing of energy infrastructure as winter approaches.

Both Russian and Ukrainian troops turned their attention to the southern front of the war before the retreat of the Russians from Kherson.

However, Moscow appears to be consolidating its forces and ramping up its military efforts on the front lines in eastern Donbas, where the two sides have been fighting a fierce never-ending battle for months, and around the key city of Bakhmut.

As the Kremlin sends new reinforcements to the area, along with troops previously deployed in the south, the Russian military and Wagner’s mercenary group have stepped up their efforts to break out of this long and bloody standoff, amid unconfirmed reports of incendiary attacks against Ukrainian positions. ammunition

Russia has struck Ukraine’s power grid and other infrastructure from the air, causing numerous power outages and leaving millions of Ukrainians without heat, electricity and water as cold and snow blanket Kyiv and other cities.

Power outages for four hours or more are expected in 15 regions of Ukraine on Monday, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of the Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo, said. More than 40% of Ukraine’s energy installations have been damaged by Russian missile attacks in recent weeks.

If the situation in the recently liberated areas of the south led to the announcement of evacuation, the situation in other regions of the country did not improve.

The situation in Kyiv and other major cities worsened sharply after the largest missile attack on the country’s power grid on Tuesday. Ukrenergo stated that 40% of Ukrainians are facing difficulties due to damage to at least 15 important energy centers of Ukraine. He warned that power outages could last from hours to days, “resilience and courage is what we need this winter”.

News of the evacuation came as an International Atomic Energy Agency team prepared to assess the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on Monday, a day after the UN agency’s head, Rafael Grossi, blamed the warring parties.

He emphasized that Moscow and Kyiv are “playing with fire”.

Fierce fighting continues in the city of Kherson, where a series of explosions rang out on Monday, as a result of the explosions, one person died, and four others were taken to the hospital, Deputy Head of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.

Russian troops continue to strengthen defenses along the eastern bank of the Dnipro River and build additional defense lines in Russian-controlled territory.

“Artillery duels are going on, the battle is going on. Now Kherson is on the front line,” said Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesman of the Ukrainian army in the area, quoted by News.ro.