No disappointments in Ukraine war, Putin insists as Russia prepares for Kherson battle

Putin played down a nuclear standoff with the West, insisting Russia had not threatened to use nuclear weapons but had only responded to nuclear "blackmail" from Western leaders.

President Vladimir Putin has insisted that Russia’s war in Ukraine was going to plan as both sides prepared for a key battle in Kherson in Ukraine’s south.

Putin, addressing a conference in Moscow on Thursday, also played down the prospect of a nuclear stand off with the West. But he accused the West of inciting the war and playing a “dangerous, bloody and dirty” game that was sowing chaos.

Western dominance over world affairs was coming to an end and “ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of World War Two,” Putin said.

Despite his positive assessment of Russia’s progress, on the ground in Kherson, Russian and Ukrainian troops were preparing for what could be one of the most consequential battles of the war.

One of four partially occupied provinces that Russia declared annexed last month, the region controls both the only land route to the Crimea peninsula – seized by Russia in 2014, and the mouth of the Dnipro river that bisects Ukraine.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed leader of Crimea, said work had been completed on moving residents seeking to flee Kherson to regions of Russia ahead of an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly removing some people and recruiting others to fight against their will. Its general staff said what it called Russia’s so-called evacuation was continuing, with hospital and business equipment removed and extra Russian forces deployed in empty homes.

Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.