Russian soldiers loot towns in occupied Kherson region: Ukrainian forces suggest potential withdrawal

Ukrainian authorities recorded mass Russian looting in the occupied territories of the southern Kherson region

The Ukrainian forces assume that this means they will not establish themselves in those towns and are likely moving deep into the occupied territory, United Coordination Press Center chief at Ukraine's southern grouping, Nataliya Humeniuk, said.

"They raid people's yards and, as our military says, they have an 'exacerbation of the marauding disease.' They pack things and send a lot of things to Russia. This is usually a sign that they are no longer established in those settlements and are obviously moving deeper," she said.

According to the spokesperson, the Russian soldiers will most likely look for "a wintering place where they need to gain a foothold on denser lines of defense, where there are reinforced concrete structures."

Humeniuk added that the Russian-appointed occupying "authorities" are intensifying pressure on the local population to find pro-Ukrainian people.

"Police strengthen pressure on the population. The occupiers consider themselves correct when searching for pro-Ukrainian people when they search for those who have not yet received the Russian passport and try to force passports on the population they can get from their homes."

Rubryka reported earlier that Humeniuk commented on the recent report by the American Institute for the Study of War about Ukrainian soldiers likely having landed on the left bank of the Kherson region, occupied by Russian forces.

The spokesperson said that the combat work around populated areas could not considered complete without fortification and urged not to push but to trust the military. She stressed that the "proclamations" about possible successes harm combat work.

As Rubryka reported, analysts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated that units of two Ukrainian marine infantry brigades probably carried out an assault across the Dnipro River on the left bank of the Kherson region on October 17-18.

The General Staff reported that the Ukrainian forces eliminated almost 1,000 more occupiers in the past day, so the total losses of Russian troops since the beginning of the full-scale war amounted to about 294,000 soldiers. The Russians suffered the greatest losses near Avdiivka.