Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

@JuliaDavisNews 1/ Transcript:

OLGA SKABEEVA: Military correspondent of 'Komsomolskaya Pravda', our friend and comrade Alexander Kots, joins us live. Sash, we understand everything is difficult in Kherson. What is the basis for our main concerns?

@JuliaDavisNews 2/ Do we have info, intelligence about Ukrainian forces that have been assembled in a fist over there? How many people, what kind of equipment? What should we get ready for? What do we anticipate? Why did we decide to transport people out of there?

@JuliaDavisNews 3/ ALEXANDER KOTS: Because we're caring for their lives, first and foremost. Homes and apartments can be built anew. Residents of Mariupol can attest to that. We remember difficult battles for that city. Today, new neighbourhoods are popping up there.

@JuliaDavisNews 4/ Here, in the Kherson region, the situation is very hard. During all of these months, the Ukrainian side has been systematically working to cut off our forces from supply routes, in the area of the Nova Kakhova dam and in the area of the Antonovsky Bridge.

@JuliaDavisNews 5/ Right now, logistics for our forces on the left bank, on the left bank of the Dnipro river, are very complicated. Of course, they are being supplied by using pontoon bridges and ferry crossings.

@JuliaDavisNews 6/ Unfortunately there is no full-fledged connection between the left and the right bank. This creates difficulties for the Russian troops, especially since on the other side of the frontline, we are confronting forces that are quite substantial.

@JuliaDavisNews 7/ In some frontline areas, the enemy outnumbers our forces 4 to 1.

@JuliaDavisNews 8/ These are the units that have been trained abroad, including in Britain, according to NATO standards with modern, high-precision weapons like HIMARS and M777 [howitzers] with Excalibur rounds, which use not only coordinates but laser-guided capabilities, as well as …

@JuliaDavisNews 9/ …AN/TPQ-37 counter artillery radar, which causes a lot of trouble for our artillery. Nonetheless, we've been holding back this armada. No one here says we're planning to surrender Kherson.

@JuliaDavisNews 10/ We're likely planning to defend it, it's likely there will be heavy battles for the city, in the course of which the Ukrainian side won't hesitate to use any weapons against civilian districts.

@JuliaDavisNews 11/ We've seen this in the past, not only in Mariupol, but also in other cities, like Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, which suffered severe damage from the enemy's artillery.

@JuliaDavisNews 12/ The same will certainly happen to Kherson, especially since the commander of the special military operation Surovikin said, it's possible that prohibited weapons will be used. I believe this might mean the use of chemical munitions or the flooding of the area.

@JuliaDavisNews 13/ The civilian population is being relocated out of the city to minimise the casualties among civilians. This is a difficult step, but it is totally justified. Right now, it's important for us to endure.

@JuliaDavisNews 14/ I don't want to give anyone any illusions, but we'll have to persevere, gritting our teeth, through November and, I'm afraid, part of December. There won't be any good news in the next 2 months, that's for sure. If we make it through that, there will be a breakthrough.

@JuliaDavisNews 15/ I honestly don't doubt that we will make it. Severe territorial losses are likely in those 2 months, but defeat in one battle doesn't mean losing the war.

@JuliaDavisNews 16/ VADIM GIGIN: Right now, in the autumn, there is a crisis in our special military operation. Yes, it happens, sometimes crisis happens during war.

@JuliaDavisNews 17/ SKABEEVA: The issue is that we are truly at war with NATO, it's not a secret for us, Ukraine or NATO. But why didn't we prepare for this turn of events when we started our military actions? That is the main question that is up in the air.

@JuliaDavisNews 18/ Of course, we understand that deliveries are massive. Of course, we see that NATO is determined, but why was this a surprise for us at some point? Why did we think that Zelensky would run off and NATO would not help? That is the open question. /end