Ukraine urges Kherson residents to flee to their side as Russia warns them to evacuate to theirs
- Ukrainian member of Kherson’s regional council advised people to head to territory controlled by Ukraine
- Moscow advised people to take ‘humanitarian trips’ to Russia ‘in order to avoid civilian casualties’ in the war
A Ukrainian member of Kherson’s regional council urged residents to head to territory controlled by Ukraine if possible.
His plea comes after Russian-installed officials in the occupied region repeated calls for local residents to evacuate to Russia, citing incessant shelling by advancing Ukrainian forces.
The deputy head of the Moscow-appointed administration of Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, urged people on Friday to take “humanitarian trips” to Russia “in order to avoid civilian casualties” in the war.
In a sign that continuing and sustained Ukrainian military gains along the southern front are worrying the Kremlin, Russia is promising free accommodation to residents of the partially occupied Kherson region who want to evacuate to Russia.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin made the announcement soon after the Russia-backed leader of Kherson, one of four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Moscow last month, asked the Kremlin to organise an evacuation from four cities in the region.
“Cities of the Kherson region – Kherson and Nova Kakhovka, Hola Prystan and Chornobaivka – are subject to daily missile strikes,” Vladimir Saldo said in a video posted online on Thursday. “These missile strikes cause serious damage, first and foremost to the residents. Among targets missiles hit are hotels, residential buildings, markets – (places) where there are lots of civilians.”