Russia evacuates Kherson residents as Ukraine progresses

Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Moscow-appointed regional administration, said a decision had been made to evacuate Kherson residents to the Russian regions of Rostov, Krasnodar and Stavropol, as well as to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. .

“We, residents of the Kherson region, of course know that Russia is not abandoning their own country, and Russia always lends a hand,” Balance said on Thursday.

Russia has characterized the relocation of Ukrainians to Russia or Russian-controlled territory as voluntary, but in many cases these are the only evacuation routes residents of the occupied territories can or are allowed to take.

Reports have surfaced that some Ukrainians were forcibly deported to “filtration camps” under harsh conditions. In addition, an Associated Press investigation found that Russian officials deported thousands of Ukrainian children — some orphans, others living with foster care or in institutions — to be raised as Russians.

As Ukrainian forces counter-offensive in the east and south of the country to retake the occupied territories, Russian forces withdrew from some areas they conquered shortly after invading the country in late February.

Ukraine’s gains and an October 8 bomb explosion on a prized bridge connecting Russia to Crimea have sparked domestic criticism of the Kremlin’s handling of the war and increased pressure on Putin to do more to stem the tide in the war. advantage of Russia.

The evacuation announcement came as Ukrainian forces penetrated deeper into the Kherson region, albeit at a slower pace than a few weeks ago. Ukrainian troops recaptured 75 settlements in the region in the past month, Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories said late Thursday evening.

A similar campaign in eastern Ukraine resulted in 502 settlements in the Kharkiv region, 43 in the Donetsk region and seven in the Luhansk region returning to Ukrainian control, the ministry said.

Putin illegally annexed Kherson last month, as well as the neighboring Zaporizhzhya region and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine after “referendums” in the four regions labeled Kiev and the West as a sham.

Gene. Valeriy Zaluzhny, the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, vowed Friday that his troops would succeed in “getting ours back”.

“Nobody and nothing will stop us,” Zaluzhny said in a video message. “We have buried the myth of the invincibility of the Russian army.”

Reiterating that local residents should evacuate to Russia, Balance’s deputy, Kirill Stremousov, also emphasized that the evacuation preparations did not mean that Russian-installed officials expected Ukrainian forces to take the entire Kherson region.

“No one is pulling back. … No one intends to leave the territory of the Kherson region,” he said.

Early Friday, Russia continued with missile strikes on critical infrastructure that began Monday in retaliation for the explosion on the Moscow-funded bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia.

At least nine civilians have been killed and 15 injured in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian president’s office reported Friday morning. Among the victims were seven people who died after a rocket attack in the city of Mykolaiv, which destroyed a residential building, said regional governor Vitaliy Kim.

Multiple Russian rocket attacks shook the city of Zaphorizhzhia overnight. The capital of the annexed region remains in Ukrainian hands and has been bombed repeatedly as Ukraine continues its southern counter-offensive.

Several explosions were reported overnight at infrastructure facilities, causing fires, said regional government Oleksandr Starukh. There were no casualties in preliminary reports and further details on specific damage were not available.

Starukh told Ukrainian state television that Russian soldiers were unable to enter the city, but that their “missiles remind us of the evil and sorrow that the occupying army carries with it.”

In addition to the rocket attacks on the regional capital, there were also shelling in three towns closer to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. In Nikopol, Marhanets, Chervonohryhorivka, drone and artillery strikes have destroyed housing and damaged water supplies and power lines.

The regional capital is about 160 kilometers by road from the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Two days ago, it was forced to return to diesel generators to maintain its reactor cooling systems after a Russian missile attack on a distant electrical substation.

Friday is Defender’s Day in Ukraine, but celebrations were muted due to the war. In Kiev, a concert at the Central Opera House has been canceled due to planned, intermittent power outages in the city, while repairs to the city’s energy infrastructure continue after Russia’s large-scale missile strikes.

Rocket, drone and missile strikes on Ukraine have kept the country on edge with airstrikes sirens becoming more frequent and creating a heightened sense of urgency after Monday’s strike that killed 19 people and injured more than 100, including many in the capital. .

Putin has vowed to retaliate if Ukraine or its allies attack Russian territory, including Ukraine’s annexed regions. Russian officials on Friday reported that Ukrainian shelling blew up an ammunition depot in Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine.

An unknown number of people were killed and injured in the incident, according to the Russian Commission of Inquiry. According to unconfirmed media reports, three Russian National Guard officers were killed and more than ten injured.

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