When Russian troops crossed from Belarus into Ukraine in late February, pressing toward Kyiv, they were ordered to block and destroy ‘nationalist resistance.’

Ukrainian authorities ask citizens not to return home yet and further tax the country’s battered energy infrastructure, and Western countries consider how to rebuild Ukraine when the war ends.

The Ukrainians appeared to extend their recent success in recapturing occupied territories and in pushing Moscow’s troops into retreat in areas that President Vladimir Putin has claimed now belong to Russia.

The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law on Thursday.

Russian-installed officials are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people from Kherson for their safety and to allow the military to build fortifications.