Residents in Kherson told to flee with their children
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Residents in the Kherson region of Ukraine, partially occupied by Russia, have been told to evacuate as Ukranian forces continue to advance.
In a video statement on Telegram, Kherson’s Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo publicly asked for Moscow’s help moving civilians to “safer regions of Russia”, a sign that Moscow may be losing its grip on territories it claimed to have annexed.
“Every day, the cities of Kherson region are subjected to missile attacks,” Mr Saldo said.
“As such, the leadership of Kherson administration has decided to provide Kherson families with the option to travel to other regions of the Russian Federation to rest and study.
“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, ... go to other regions,” he said, advising people to “leave with their children”.
Ukraine rejects accusations that it targets its own civilians and is looking to liberate them. Its troops have recently retaken some areas of north-western Kherson, closing in on the regional capital, Kherson city.
Kherson is one of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia claims to have annexed this month, and arguably the most strategically important.
It controls both the only land route to the Crimea peninsula Russia seized in 2014, and the mouth of the Dnipro, the giant river that bisects Ukraine.
A flight of civilians from Kherson would be a major blow to Russia’s claim to have annexed around 15 per cent of Ukraine’s territory this month and incorporated an area the size of Portugal into Russia.
Russia has concentrated many of its best-trained troops to defend its grip on the regional capital, the only large Ukrainian city it has captured intact since its invasion in February, and its only foothold on the Dnipro’s west bank.
But that force can only be supplied across the river, which is several kilometres wide and has few crossings.
In the past two weeks Ukraine has recaptured a swathe of territory, with its forces bearing down towards the 3 km-long (2 mile-long) Nova Kakhovka dam that provides one of the last river crossings.
Since the start of October, Ukrainian forces have been advancing rapidly along the west bank of the Dnipro, aiming to cut off thousands of Russian troops from supply lines and potential escape routes back across it.
