On Saturday, Russian-appointed officials in the city of Kherson ordered all citizens to evacuate as Ukrainian forces prepare for what should be a major counter-offensive in the southern region.
“Kherson civilians and all departments and ministries of the civil administration must now cross the left bank of the Dnieper [River]”Russian authorities in Kherson said in a Telegram message.
The order was issued “because of the tense situation at the front, the growing danger of massive bombing of the city and the threat of terrorist attacks”, he added in reference to the approach of Ukrainian forces.
People arriving from Kherson await further evacuation into the depths of Russia at the Dzhankoi railway station in Crimea on October 21, 2022.
(STRINGER / AFP via Getty Images)
POWER OUTAGES BLAME UKRAINE WHILE RUSSIA AIMS TO TARGET CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN STRIKE SERIES
The statement told civilians to bring pets, valuables and documentation as they flee what many believe will be the next big front in Ukraine’s struggle to regain its territory.
Intense fighting in the region has followed for months, but as Ukrainian troops try to drive the occupying forces out of the regional capital, there is a growing sense that the battle is reaching a tipping point.
Russia was able to take Kherson without devastating it and has held the city since February 24.
But Ukraine’s progress and an information blackout in the region suggest Ukraine could plan another major counter-offensive such as the significant progress made in Kharkiv last month, which put Russian soldiers in retreat.
Officials based in Russia in Kherson said this week that they were planning to move 10,000 people a day from Kherson across the Dnieper River and urged them to evacuate to Russia, Reuters reported.
A woman from Kherson guides her dog along a platform for further evacuation into the depths of Russia at Dzhankoi Railway Station in Crimea on October 21, 2022.
(STRINGER / AFP via Getty Images)
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Ukrainian forces have targeted bridges, highways and supply routes connecting Russian troops in Kherson to vital access points in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
Russian General Sergei Surovikin said this week that the situation in Kherson was “already difficult” and that Russia “did not rule out difficult decisions,” Reuters reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it had rejected a frontline counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, but Fox News Digital could not independently verify these claims.
People arriving from Kherson hold their bags as they await further evacuation into the depths of Russia at Dzhankoi Railway Station in Crimea on October 21, 2022.
(STRINGER / AFP via Getty Images)
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Russia said the Kherson region is now its territory after an attempt to annex it last month.
Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed this as an illegal land grab.
