Russian troops trying to mine territory surrounding Enerhodar

Russian forces are afraid of a counteroffensive and are trying to avoid the area near Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia region, while mining the forest belts and villages around the city

Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov reported the information.

"The occupying Russian troops are trying to mine everything around Enerhodar. If until now only the coastline and the territory around the perimeter of the nuclear power plant were mined, now they have already started mining the surrounding villages, forest belts, and plantations," the mayor said.

Russian forces probably fear the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Orlov suggests, because they do not keep military equipment in the city, but deploy it in nearby villages and at the nuclear power plant.

"The occupying Russian forces, let's put it like this, have dug in at the NPP and are using the technological facilities to protect themselves, because they realize that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will never attack the largest plant in Europe. They are actually spending the day and night there, setting up ammunition depots. For about the last two weeks, local residents have been noticing that the occupiers are intensifying mining and pressure at checkpoints. It is no longer possible to leave the city unless you have a piece of paper they call a Russian passport," the mayor emphasizes. 

The pressure on civilians in the temporarily occupied city is increasing.

"This is especially true for those who did not cooperate, did not get a passport, did not sign a contract with a fake company from Rosatom. And almost everyone who encounters the occupiers on the street is at risk of ending up in torture chambers. Despite all this, not only the residents of Enerhodar, but also the occupiers themselves realize that Enerhodar will be recaptured. The citizens of Enerhodar are waiting for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The occupiers and defectors are also waiting. And they are getting more and more nervous," Orlov added.