A Kremlin-installed official in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson urged residents to remain calm Tuesday as reports surfaced that Kyiv’s forces were making sweeping gains into Russian-controlled territory.
Moscow says it has conscripted 200,000 people into its army in two weeks to help bolster its military in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces have recently made lightning advances.
Kherson was one of the first regions where Kyiv’s defences collapsed in February after Russia invaded but Ukrainian forces have recently accelerated a months-long offensive to recapture it.
“Our artillery and fighter jets are hitting enemy forces that enter the sovereign territory of Russia,” said Kirill Stremousov, the Moscow-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region.
“There is no reason to panic,” he told residents of the Black Sea region on social media.
Maps published by Russia’s defence ministry showed Tuesday its…
