NNA - Russian forces are digging in for the "heaviest of battles" in the strategic southern region of Kherson, a senior Ukrainian official said, as the Kremlin prepares to defend the largest city under its control from Ukraine's counter-offensive.

Russian forces in the region have been driven back in recent weeks and risk being trapped against the west bank of the Dnipro river, where the provincial capital of Kherson has been in Russian hands since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine eight months ago.

Russian-installed authorities are evacuating residents to the east bank, but Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said there was no sign that Russian forces were preparing to abandon the city.

"With Kherson everything is clear. The Russians are replenishing, strengthening their grouping there," Arestovych said in an online video late on Tuesday.

"It means that nobody is preparing to withdraw. On the contrary, the heaviest of battles is going to take place for Kherson."—Reuters 

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