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All residents of Kherson ordered to leave immediately by Russian-installed authorities
The Russian occupation administration of Kherson Oblast has published an announcement titled “all civilians of Kherson must immediately leave the city.”
It was noted that the order was due to the "tense military situation."
The statement said all departments and ministries of the Russian-installed administration in Kherson should also leave. It urged people to board river boats across the Dnipro.
“Do not forget documents, money, valuables, and clothes,” the occupation administration urges the Khersoners.
Thousands of civilians have been leaving for days across the Dnipro River after warnings of a looming Ukrainian offensive to recapture the city, but Saturday's warning was delivered with renewed urgency.
According to the Euromaidan Press, the Russian invaders are moving Ukrainian civilian hostages and prisoners of war away from Kherson oblast, without any indication as to where they are being taken.
Russia has been abducting Ukrainians since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, with the whereabouts of many still unknown. The number of such enforced disappearances, under the guise of ‘evacuation’ may now rise significantly, it said.
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Yesterday, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the Russian forces have started their withdrawal from the west of Kherson Oblast and they “will likely attempt” to blow up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) to “cover their withdrawal and to prevent Ukrainian forces from pursuing Russian forces deeper into Kherson Oblast.”
One of the most important battles of the eight-month-old war is coming to a head near Kherson as Ukrainian forces advance along the Dnipro's west bank, aiming to recapture the city and encircle thousands of Russian troops.
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Ukraine has imposed an information blackout from the Kherson front, but Russian commander General Sergei Surovikin said this week the situation in Kherson was "already difficult" and Russia was "not ruling out difficult decisions" there.
In a briefing on Saturday (Oct 22), the Russian defence ministry said its forces had repelled a Ukrainian attempt to break through its line of control in Kherson region. Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield claims.
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Kherson is the only provincial capital that Russia has captured intact and held since its Feb. 24 invasion. The Kherson region was one of four that President Vladimir Putin said last month that Moscow was claiming "forever" as its own territory.
Putin has said he is prepared to resort to nuclear weapons if necessary to defend what Russia claims as its own lands. The declared annexation was condemned as illegal by Ukraine, its allies and the United Nations General Assembly.
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