Civilians in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson have been asked to evacuate the area and go to Russia or Crimea.
Vladimir Saldo, the Kherson region’s acting governor, asked Russian leaders on Thursday to arrange departures due to the threat of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Russian state media TASS reported on Friday.
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the region’s military-civilian administration, said that the Kherson region is “dangerous primarily for civilians” and that “in order to avoid victims among civilians of the Kherson Region, the regional administration insistently recommends them to take the opportunity of a humanitarian trip for a rest and recreation to [other regions of] the Russian Federation for the time of the efforts to clear the territory from Ukrainian Neo-Nazis and Western mercenaries.”
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Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, called the evacuation effort an indication that the war is continuing to go badly for Russia. Ukraine’s armed forces broke through Russia’s front line in Kherson earlier this month and have continued to make gains. Over the past couple of weeks, they have been able to liberate more than 600 towns and villages that were under Russian control, Ukraine’s Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories said, according to the New York Times.
Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin is supposedly annexing against ardent opposition from Ukraine and governments around the world, which have characterized the land grab as a violation of international law.
Russian forces this week carried out a series of missile and drone strikes across the country in a magnitude and range reminiscent of the beginning of the war. Dozens have been killed and more injured in the latest bombardment, while U.S. and United Nations officials have accused the Russians of targeting civilian infrastructure. Russia maintains it doesn’t target civilians, though it has been accused of war crimes ranging from the indiscriminate firing of missiles in civilian-populated areas to the execution and torture of civilians to the use of sexual violence.
The United States and Western allies have reiterated their support for Ukraine in light of the recent attacks, which spurred calls from Ukrainian leaders for allies to bolster their air defense systems.
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There is also concern that Putin could resort to using a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine as his losses on the battlefield mount. While Putin has threatened such action, President Joe Biden said earlier this week that he doesn’t think it’ll happen, though he warned that it would have massive consequences, the likes of which are unknown until it occurs, if it does.
An unnamed NATO official said earlier this week that a Russian nuclear strike would “provoke a physical response,” while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined to say if the U.S. was prepared for a response of force during a press conference on Thursday.
