KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday as Russian-organized referendums in four regions Moscow hopes to annex drew to a close.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Donetsk region in the east remained his country’s — and Russia’s — top strategic priority, with fighting engulfing several towns as Russian troops try to advance to the south and west.
There were also clashes in Kharkiv region in the northeast — focus of a Ukrainian counter-offensive this month. And Ukrainian forces pressed on with a campaign to put out of action four bridges and other river crossings to disrupt supply lines to Russian forces in the south.
In Russia, the call-up of some 300,000 reservists has led to the first sustained protests since the invasion began, with one monitoring group estimating at least 2,000 people have been arrested so far. All public criticism of Russia’s “special military operation” is banned.
Flights out of Russia have sold out and cars have clogged border checkpoints, with reports of a 48-hour queue at the sole road border to Georgia, the rare pro-Western neighbor that allows Russian citizens to enter without a visa.
Asked about the prospect of the border being shut, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday: “I don’t know anything about this. At the moment, no decisions have been taken on this.”
Russia counts millions of former conscripts as official reservists. The authorities have not spelled out precisely who is due to be called up, as that part of Putin’s order is classified.
The mobilization has also seen the first sustained criticism of the authorities within state-controlled media since the war began.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces southern command said on Tuesday that its counter offensive in Kherson had resulted in enemy losses of 77 servicemen, six tanks, five howitzers, three anti-aircraft installations and 14 armored vehicles.
Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
Moscow hopes to annex the provinces of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, in the east and south, which make up about 15 percent of Ukraine.
None of the provinces are fully under Moscow’s control and fighting has been under way along the entire front line, with Ukrainian forces reporting more advances since they routed Russian troops in a fifth province, Kharkiv, earlier this month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to protect Russian soil, which would include the four provinces if annexed.
Voting on whether to join Russia began on Friday in the regions and is due to end on Tuesday, with the Russian parliament possibly approving the annexation within days.
Kyiv and the West have dismissed the referendums as a sham and pledged not to recognize the results.