Retreating Russians 'attempting to create a no man's land' in Kherson, says Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said retreating Russian forces were stealing medical equipment and trying to surrender the Kherson region in southern Ukraine , uninhabitable

Damaged vehicles in an area of ​​Kherson that was recaptured by Ukrainian forces (

Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Retreating Russian forces are stealing medical equipment and trying to make the Kherson region a "no man's land", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Russia said on Friday it had finished calling up reservists to fight in Ukraine, having recruited hundreds of thousands in a month and already dispatched more than a quarter of them immediately after a divisive mobilization campaign, the first since World War Two.

But despite the conscription, Russian forces are still unable to make a noticeable breakthrough on the military lines in eastern Ukraine.

British intelligence said Russian troops had adopted a "defensive posture in most frontline areas in Ukraine", with units grossly under-manned.

And Zelensky said Russian forces were trying to turn the Kherson region into an uninhabited area with massive thefts of medical equipment and ambulances.

Civilians evacuated from the Russian-held city of Kherson wait to board a bus bound for Crimea (

Picture:

REUTERS)

Ukrainian troops are gathered in force near Kherson, in the south of the country, prompting the Russian authorities to evacuate many inhabitants.

Kherson is one of four regions that Moscow claims as part of Russia.

"The occupiers have decided to close the medical institutions in the cities, to withdraw medical equipment, ambulances, everything. They are pressuring the doctors who still remain... to move to the territory of Russia", Z...