Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin suspends key US-Russia nuclear treaty in speech denouncing West

Russia has announced the mass evacuation of civilians from the key city of Kherson, as well as all of its civilian occupation administration there.

Russia’s newly appointed overall commander for its war in Ukraine, General Sergey Surovikin, said on Tuesday that “difficult decisions” may have to be made in the near future regarding Russia’s position in Kherson. In his first public remarks since his appointment, he said the situation around Kherson was already “extremely difficult.”

The evacuation combined with Surovikin’s comments has fueled speculation that Russia may be preparing to retreat from the city in the face of a Ukrainian offensive, in what would be a major defeat for President Vladimir Putin.

Other Russian officials though have suggested the evacuation is in preparation of Russian defense of the city. Kherson’s Russian-appointed governor on Wednesday denied Russia was planning to “give up” the city.

Another senior occupation official has said the battle for Kherson will begin in "very near future.”

Kherson is the only regional capital Russia managed to seize in its invasion and is a capital of one of the regions Putin annexed last month.

The city is located on the western side of the Dnieper river and Russian forces' position there has become increasingly difficult, after Ukraine succeeded in destroying the bridges needed to supply it.

With the bridges destroyed, thousands of Russian troops risk becoming surrounded in Kherson city and cut off from any supplies.

Russia has already begun evacuating civilians to the eastern side of the Dneipr river. Independent military researchers said Russia has quickly built a pontoon bridge near Kherson that could be used for evacuation or re-supplies.

The Russian-appointed governor said around 60,000 civilians will be evacuated, over the course of 7 days.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian power stations shows Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make Ukrainians "suffer" with deliberate attacks, speaking of attacks on Ukrainian power stations.

"He is trying to make sure that the Ukrainian people suffer," Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "He's making it very difficult for them."

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder echoed those comments, saying Russia is trying to "inflict pain" on Ukrainian civilians with its strikes on population centers and infrastructure.

"We do continue to see them target, among other things, civilian infrastructure, to include energy related targets -- power grids, for example," Ryder said.

He added, "In terms of why we think they're targeting those areas, I think obviously trying to inflict pain on the civilian society as well as try to have an impact on Ukrainian forces."

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson and Matt Seyler

The United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has released its first in-depth, written report on what it calls "an array of war crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law" committed in the country during the first weeks of Russia's brutal invasion.

The report outlines what investigators say are "documented patterns of summary executions, unlawful confinement, torture, ill-treatment, rape and other sexual violence."

The inquiry zeroed in on four regions of Ukraine-- Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy--and focused on incidents that took place following Russia's invasion on Feb. 24 through the end of March.

Investigators traveled to 27 cities and towns, conducted nearly 200 interviews and "inspected sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as well as weapon remnants, and consulted a large number of documents and reports."

Due to the sheer number of allegations, the commission could not investigate all the claims it received. The commission said it intends to "gradually devote more of its resources" to a broader investigation within the country, according to the report.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Ukraine will receive anti-drone systems from NATO in the coming days according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"The most important thing we can do is deliver on what allies have promised, to step up and deliver even more air defense systems," Stoltenberg said, according to Reuters.

He added, "NATO will in the coming days deliver counter-drone systems to counter the specific threat of drones, including those from Iran."

-ABC News' Will Gretsky