Kiev ( Ukraine ) - (AFP) - Ukraine is preparing Thursday to restrict energy consumption to face the Russian army's destruction of its facilities as winter approaches, while President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the population to prepare for "all possible scenarios."

As the bombing continued across Ukraine on Wednesday, Kiev accused Russia of planning a "mass deportation" of the population of the recently annexed territories and the compulsory conscription of Ukrainian citizens into its army.

In his speech on Wednesday evening, Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces shot down 21 Iranian-made drones on Wednesday, including 10 that were heading towards Kiev. "Unfortunately, there were also new strikes and damage to vital infrastructure," he added.

He called on Ukrainians to limit their electricity consumption from Thursday morning. A call echoed by the Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, who called on Kiev residents to refrain from operating microwave ovens, air conditioners, boilers and electric heaters.

The Ukrainian presidency had earlier announced "restrictions on the supply of electricity" throughout Ukraine on Thursday, and the establishment of mobile power supply points for critical infrastructure.

"We are preparing for all possible scenarios with the approach of winter," Zelensky said. He added, "We expect Russian terrorism to target energy facilities, until we can, with the help of our partners, destroy 100 percent of the missiles and drones."

The European Union is preparing to impose sanctions on Iran, which it accuses of supplying armed drones to Russia to strike Ukraine. At the United Nations, the Security Council met for two hours behind closed doors Wednesday on the issue.

Before the meeting, a State Department spokesman said that the latter "has seen in recent months a lot of evidence that Russia is using these Iranian (drones) to launch cruel and deliberate attacks against the Ukrainian population and basic civilian infrastructure."

Zelensky confirmed on Wednesday that his army had destroyed 233 of these drones in a month.

After the session, Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky and Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeed Erwani took turns speaking in front of journalists at the entrance to the Council to deny that the drones used by Russia were to launch attacks in Ukraine.

In a tone full of sarcasm, the Russian diplomat criticized "baseless accusations, conspiracy theories, and the failure to present any evidence to the Security Council." Polyansky confirmed that the drones "used by the Russian army in Ukraine were manufactured in Russia," and therefore Iran has nothing to do with them.

In turn, the Iranian ambassador ridiculed the accusations leveled at his country of supplying military drones to Russia, considering them "baseless allegations."

Irani reiterated that the Islamic Republic wants a "peaceful settlement" of the conflict in Ukraine.

In southern Ukraine, the Russian administration of the Kherson region confirmed on Wednesday that civilian evacuations had begun. It plans to transfer "50,000 to 60,000 people" within days to the other bank of the Dnieper.

Vladimir Saldo, head of the Russian occupation authorities, said that the city of Kherson, which has been occupied since the spring, would be evacuated in the face of the advance of the Ukrainian forces, and vowed that the Russian forces would continue to "fight to death".

For his part, Oleksey Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said, "We are witnessing preparations for a mass deportation of the Ukrainian population" to Russia "in order to adjust the ethnic composition of the occupied territories."

"It is a crime that should be condemned by the United Nations and was previously committed in Crimea," which Russia annexed in 2014, he added.

For his part, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patruchev, said that there are "about five million people" from the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed in September on Russian territory, where they "have taken refuge."

These regions are Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, where the Russian President ordered the imposition of martial law on Wednesday, a measure that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considered "null and void".

For his part, Zelensky warned the residents of the annexed areas of the Russian army's conscription campaign and said, "Try to leave the occupied territories. And if you cannot do that and end up in Russian military units, try at the first opportunity to lay down your weapons and head towards the Ukrainian positions."