Putin supports Kherson evacuations

• Putin openly authorizes the evacuation of residents from Russian-occupied Kherson.
• Kyiv’s army are steadily approaching the vital port city.
• At least 70,000 people have left Kherson.

Putin has openly authorized the evacuation of residents from Russian-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv’s army are steadily approaching the vital port city.

“The civilian population should not suffer,” Putin added.

At least 70,000 people have left Kherson, Moscow’s lone large city since February’s invasion.

“Remove” civilians at risk from shelling and attacks, Mr. Putin said in Moscow’s Red Square on Unity Day.

Moscow denies deporting Ukrainian people, which Kyiv calls a war crime.

Russia’s aggressive missile and drone assaults on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine have killed many and caused frequent electrical shortages in Kyiv.

On Thursday, Russian military left Kherson in a significant pullout, prompting Mr. Putin’s remarks.

Kirill Stremousov, a Kremlin-appointed official, told Russian media that Moscow was “likely” to withdraw its soldiers.

Ukrainian officials cautioned that the purported action could lead their men into risky locations.

After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainian forces have steadily retaken ground around Kherson.

The Russian army put Kherson into defensive posture at the middle of last month, urging civilians to escape.

Before a conflict, military commanders declared they had evacuated the city’s people.

Russia claims three Ukrainian areas, including Kherson, as its own. It rushed local “referendums” to support the allegation, which was criticized internationally.

Russia also grabbed Crimea in 2014.

Mr. Putin also announced Friday in Red Square that 318,000 military recruits had joined up during a mobilization, surpassing his objective of 300,000.

Mr. Putin claimed 49,000 were actively fighting, but the BBC could not confirm this.

Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, opened its headquarters in St. Petersburg.

It has recruited inmates to fight in Ukraine for Russian sentence commutation.

Wagner soldiers have been accused of human rights abuses in Syria, Libya, and elsewhere.

Mr. Putin has expanded the Russian statute on calling up reservists to include recently released felons.

The amendment allows recently freed murderers and drug dealers to fight in Ukraine.

Former inmates convicted of child sex or terrorism cannot serve.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently criticized the “totally mad stubbornness of today’s Russia” in his war remarks.

He said his enemy was sending “people to the meat grinder”—mobilized troops and mercenaries—rather than peace talks.

Mr. Zelensky called Bakhmut and Soledar “fiercest fighting” of the week.

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