KYIV, Ukraine — Russian authorities in Ukraine ordered all residents of the city of Kherson to leave “immediately” Saturday ahead of an expected offensive by Ukrainian troops, who are leading a counteroffensive to retake one of the first urban areas Russia seized after invading the country.

In a message on the Telegram messaging service, the pro-Kremlin regional administration urged civilians to use boat crossings across the major river to get deeper into Russian-controlled territory, citing the tense situation on the frontline and the threat of shelling and alleged “terrorist” plans by Kiev.

Kherson has been in the hands of Russia since the first days of the almost 8-month war in Ukraine. The city is the capital of the region of the same name, one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and imposed martial law in Russia on Thursday.

On Friday, Ukrainian forces bombed Russian positions across the province, targeting resupply routes for pro-Kremlin forces across the Dnieper River and preparing for a final push to retake the city.

After the start of the counteroffensive at the end of August, the Ukrainian military recaptured vast territories in the north of the region. On Saturday, he announced new successes, saying that Russian troops were forced to retreat from the villages of Charovna and Chkalova in the Beryslav district.

Russian-appointed officials are reportedly desperate to turn the city of Kherson — a prime target for both sides because of its key industries and ports — into a fortress while trying to resettle tens of thousands of residents.

To replenish the losses and strengthen the front units, the Kremlin transferred up to 2,000 conscripts to the surrounding area, reports the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.

The wide Dnieper is a major factor in the fighting, making it difficult for Russia to supply its troops defending the city of Kherson and nearby areas on the west bank after relentless Ukrainian strikes rendered key crossings unusable.

Taking control of Kherson allowed Russia to resume supplies of fresh water from the Dnieper to Crimea, which were stopped by Ukraine after the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula by Moscow. A large hydroelectric plant upstream of Kherson is a key source of energy for the southern region. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of trying to undermine it in order to flood the mostly flat region.

Kherson’s Kremlin-backed authorities previously announced plans to evacuate all Russian-appointed officials and about 60,000 civilians across the river in what local leader Vladimir Saldo said would be an “organized, gradual resettlement.”

Another Russian-appointed official estimated on Saturday that about 25,000 people from across the region had crossed the Dnieper. Kirill Stremusov, in his Telegram message, said that civilians are being resettled willingly.

“People are actively moving because today life is a priority. We are not dragging anyone anywhere,” he said, adding that some residents may wait for the Ukrainian army to return the city.

Ukrainian and Western officials have expressed concern over the possible forced relocation of residents to Russia or Russian-occupied territory.

Ukrainian officials called on Kherson residents to resist attempts to resettle them, and one local official said Moscow wants to take civilians hostage and use them as human shields.

Elsewhere in the occupied country, hundreds of thousands of people in central and western Ukraine woke up Saturday to blackouts and periodic gunshots. In its latest military tactic, Russia has stepped up strikes on power plants, water systems and other key infrastructure across the country.

Ukraine’s air force said in a statement Saturday that Russia launched a “massive missile strike” targeting “critical infrastructure,” adding that it shot down 18 of 33 cruise missiles launched from the air and sea.

Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the Russians launched 36 missiles, most of which were shot down.

“These treacherous strikes on critical targets are a typical terrorist tactic,” Zelensky said. “The world can and must stop this terror.”

Air raid sirens sounded twice across Ukraine by early afternoon, sending residents scrambling for shelter as Ukrainian air defenses scrambled to shoot down explosive drones and missiles.

“Several missiles” aimed at the capital of Ukraine were shot down on Saturday morning, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging service.

The presidential administration said in a morning message that five suicide drones were shot down in the central Cherkasy region, southeast of Kyiv. Similar messages were received from the governors of six western and central provinces, as well as the southern Odesa region on the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s top diplomat said the day’s attacks showed Ukraine needed new Western-strengthened air defense systems “without a moment’s delay.”

“SPA saves lives,” Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

The Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine, Kirill Tymoshenko, reported in Telegram that almost 1.4 million families lost electricity as a result of the electricity strike. He said about 672,000 homes were affected in western Khmelnytskyi Oblast and another 242,000 were affected by blackouts in Cherkasy Oblast.

Most of the western Bug River town of Khmelnytskyi, which had a pre-war population of 275,000, lost power shortly after local media reported several loud explosions.

In a social media post on Saturday, the city council urged local residents to conserve water “in case it also runs out within an hour”.

The mayor of Lutsk, a city of 215,000 people in Ukraine’s far west, made a similar call, saying the city’s power was partially cut after Russian missiles hit local power facilities and damaged one power plant beyond repair. .

The central city of Uman, a major pilgrimage center for Hasidic Jews with around 100,000 residents before the war, was also plunged into darkness after a rocket hit a nearby power station.

The state energy company of Ukraine “Ukrainerga” responded to the strikes by announcing that shutdowns will be introduced to stabilize the situation in Kyiv and 10 regions of Ukraine.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, the company accused Russia of attacking “energy facilities in the main networks of the western regions of Ukraine.” It stated that the scale of the destruction was comparable to the consequences of Moscow’s first coordinated attack on the Ukrainian energy system earlier this month.

Both Ukrenerga and officials in Kyiv urged Ukrainians to conserve energy. Earlier this week, Zelensky urged consumers to reduce their electricity consumption between 7am and 11am and avoid using energy-intensive appliances such as electric heaters.

Earlier this week, Zelensky said 30% of Ukraine’s power plants had been destroyed after Russia launched its first wave of targeted infrastructure strikes on October 10.

In another incident, Russian officials said two people were killed and 12 others were wounded in shelling by the Ukrainian side of the town of Shebekin in the Belgorod region near the border.

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Kozlovsky reported from London.