Russian-backed leader asks for civilian evacuation during Ukrainian offensive

• Kherson is one of four regions annexed by Russia last month.
• It is in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson that is backed by Russia.
• The regional government has asked Russia to help get civilians out of the area before a Ukrainian offensive.

The head of the government in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson that is backed by Russia has asked the Kremlin to help get civilians out of the area before a Ukrainian offensive.

“Every day, the cities of the Kherson region are subjected to missile strikes: Kherson and Novaya Kakhovka, Golaya Pristan and Chernobaevka. These missile strikes cause serious damage, first of all, to the local residents. Because the targets hit by the missiles are hotels, residential buildings, markets, where there are many civilians,” said Vladimir Saldo, head of one of four regions annexed by Russia last month.

So, the Kherson government “decided to set up a way for Kherson families to travel to other parts of the Russian Federation,” he said on his Telegram channel.

“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, should go to other regions … to take their children and leave,” he said, adding an “appeal” to the Russian leadership to “help in organizing such work. We, residents of the Kherson region, of course, know that Russia does not abandon its own people.”

But Kirill Stremousov, who is the deputy head of the military administration for the Kherson region, said, “There is no evacuation in the Kherson region, and there can’t be one.”

Saldo’s request to “help organise the departure of residents of the Kherson region for temporary stays and rest in other regions of the Russian Federation is not a call for evacuation,” Stremousov said. “We want the people who live in the Kherson area to stay calm and not panic. No one is going to pull Russian troops out of the area around Kherson.”

Ukrainian forces are slowly moving through Kherson and hitting important infrastructures like bridges and railroads.

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