Civil servants working for the Russian-installed administration in Nova Kakhovka, the second-largest city in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, have left along with thousands of residents due to fighting, officials said on Tuesday.
The city lies on the east bank of the Dnipro river, next to the huge Kakhovka dam, which both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling. It also adjoins the town of Tavriisk at the mouth of the North Crimean Canal, a crucial source of fresh water to the arid Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
"After the well-known events of Nov. 11, when Russian troops were ordered to withdraw from the right (west) bank of Kherson region, Nova Kakhovka found itself under direct fire from large-calibre artillery and mortars of the armed forces of Ukraine," the city's Russian-installed administration said.
