GENERAL Armageddon is plotting to blow up a dam to flood Kherson as satellite images show the Russian's hastily built escape bridge out of the city.

Tens of thousands of Russian civilians are fleeing the southern city after General Sergey Surovikin, renowned for his merciless manoeuvres, admitted his army was under pressure from Ukraine's fierce forces.

But desperate Putin is said to be laying the groundwork to justify the humiliating retreat from Kherson.

Russian forces are planning to use the withdrawal to execute a "false-flag" attack on Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant – less than 50 miles east of Kherson, the Institute for the Study of War said.

Surokivin's plot to blow up the dam will cover Russia's retreat from the right bank of the Dnipro River and push back Ukrainian advances, a report said.

Destroying the plant in Nova Kakhovka would send an avalanche of water down the river towards the city of Kherson, wiping out towns and villages along the way.

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"The Kremlin could attempt to leverage such a false-flag attack to overshadow the news of a third humiliating retreat for Russian forces, this time from western Kherson," the Institute for the Study of War said.

"Such an attack would also further the false Russian information operation portraying Ukraine as a terrorist state that deliberately targets civilians."

The plot to blow up the dam comes as Ukraine placed restrictions on electricity use nationwide for the first time since Russia's invasion following a barrage of attacks on power plants.

As Ukrainian forces tighten the noose around Putin's troops, Russian-installed authorities plan to evacuate up to 60,000 people over the next six days amid fears the "battle for Kherson" will begin.

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Satellite images show a bombed bridge over the Dnipro River being swiftly repaired using half a dozen barges as Russians flee the siege of the city.

Using the pontoon-like barges, it's thought the bridge can now be used to evacuate civilians faster than using boats across the river – or be used by Russian troops to make a quick escape.

Russia could also be using the evacuation as "a cover for the mass forced removal of civilians from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine", the Institute for the Study of War said.

"Russian military leaders are likely attempting to mitigate the informational and operational consequences of failing to defend against another successful Ukrainian advance," the think tank said.

On Wednesday, Surovikin admitted Russia's army was under pressure from Ukraine's forces in the east and south of the country.

On the same day, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed head of Kherson, said the west bank of the Dnipro River was being evacuated amid fears of a lightning Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The key port city of Kherson controls the only land route to the Crimea peninsula – which Russia seized in 2014 – and the mouth of the Dnipro river.

The city has been captured by the Russians since the beginning of the war in February.

But as Zelensky's men continue their lightning counteroffensive, they have been getting closer to the occupied Black Sea city and Russian troops have been driven back by up to 20 miles in the last few weeks.

Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy head of the region, claimed Ukraine had launched an offensive towards Novaya Kamianka and Berislav in the region.

He said: "Up to two infantry battalions of the 128 Motor Assault Brigade and a 17 Brigade tank battalion have launched an offensive in the Nova Kamianka–Beryslav direction."

While Ukraine remained tight-lipped about its operations, its military said said 43 Russian servicemen had been killed and six tanks and other equipment destroyed in the Kherson region.

Civilians have been receiving text messages from the Russian-installed administration telling them to get out of the city now, RIA news agency reported.

The aim is to move up to 60,000 people on two boats across the river. 

Footage showed people fleeing by boat as Russian attempted to portray the mass exodus as an attempt to evacuate civilians before it became a combat zone.

Those fleeing have been told just to take their phones and laptops, clothes, a first aid kit, and a supply of food for two to three days – with the weight of the bag not weighing any more than 50kg.

Russian lines are said to be dramatically collapsing in Ukraine – with a former NATO commander claiming it could be Russia's biggest military disaster for 100 years.

In a fresh package of moves to counter battlefield defeats, Putin announced a new special coordinating council to work with Russia's regions to boost Moscow's war effort.

And he also declared martial law in four partially occupied regions of Ukraine that Russia claims as its own and restricted movement in and out of regions near Ukraine.

As Putin grows increasingly desperate, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has dashed to Washington for crisis talks amid mounting concern that Mad Vlad’s finger is inching toward the nuke trigger.

The tyrant said last month that Moscow was ready to use nuclear weapons to defend its “territorial integrity”.

In a fresh bout of sabre-rattling, Putin’s spokesman warned newly annexed parts of Ukraine could be defended by nuclear weapons.

Putin declared Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk as full-fledged regions of Russia after staging sham referendums in September – which were slammed by the West as illegal and coercive.

Although Ukraine is gaining ground on front lines, Ukraine counted the cost of Russia's long range strikes deep into its territory.

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On Thursday, the government brought in restrictions on electricity use for the first time since Russia's invasion following attacks on power plants just before the winter sets in.

Power supply will be restricted between 7am and 11am and temporary blackouts were possible if people didn't minimise their use of electricity, a presidential aide said.

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