Kyiv, Ukraine – The Ukrainian military and activists warned Tuesday that Ukrainians in the occupied southern Kherson region had been forced from their homes, as Russia’s proxy leaders expanded the area from which civilians should leave and Russian troops rushed to fortify defensive positions.
Ahead of a possible battle for control of the main area, the Ukrainian military said the increasing calls by occupation officials for people to leave the area were part of a campaign to terrorize and forcibly relocate tens of thousands of civilians from the West Bank to the West Bank. Dnipro River.
Ukraine’s military command said in a statement on Tuesday that Russian forces had “set up technical fortifications” and mines or explosives around civilian dwellings in the Kherson region, most likely to be used as defensive positions for a looming battle.
The Ukrainian allegations could not be independently verified. But residents in Kherson contacted by phone, and accounts of those who fled to Ukraine-controlled territory, described intimidation and repression as the position of the Russian army became more precarious amid the steady advance of Ukrainian forces in the south.
Ukraine said the resettlement — which Russian proxies claimed was an attempt to evacuate civilians for their safety — served as a cover to force people to flee to lands east of the river that are tightly controlled by Moscow and, in some cases, into Crimea and eventually Russia. the end.
A little over a week ago, Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed governor of Kherson, said tens of thousands of people should evacuate the regional capital. After only six days, he claimed the effort had been completed, although Ukrainian officials said only a few thousand people had left, most of them pro-Russian. Mr. Saldo also issued a clear warning that all those who remained could be considered hostile.
On Tuesday, Mr Saldo expanded the area that civilians must leave to all towns, villages and cities within 10 miles of the river, which could indicate the line Russia would defend to try to hold both the city of Kherson and the all-important dam at Kakhovka, about 40 km away. Miles from the river to the northeast, which feeds the Crimea with fresh water.
Inside the city of Kherson, where Russian agents have largely cut off Internet and telephone connections, residents said the situation was getting worse by the day.
A woman named Katrina, 38, who asked not to use her surname out of fear for her safety, has been in touch with the New York Times and hasn’t contacted her in weeks, sending out updates when she gets a secure connection. On Sunday night, when she was back online, she wrote that they could hear “the fighting on the outskirts of town.”
I wrote “The city is empty”. “It is as if it is dying. But we are alive. We continue and wait. To meet the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian officials said they believed the Kremlin would not give up Kherson – the only regional capital it captured in the war – without a fight, no matter the cost.
Russian tanks are still positioned on higher ground at Dudchany and Piatykhatky, two villages 70 miles northeast of Kherson, according to Ukrainian soldiers fighting at the front. The soldiers say that every time the Ukrainians sought to advance, they were met with an angry response.
But analysts say the Ukrainian approach to the city from the south is getting closer. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research group, said the front line is now about 25 miles from the city.
Satellite images taken last week indicated that Russian forces had abandoned their positions at Kherson Regional Airport, about seven miles outside the city. Local agents said that Russian forces had begun to engineer defensive positions in Belozerka and Chornobayvka, also on the outskirts of the city.
Anna Lukinova And the Oleksandr Chubko Contribute to the preparation of reports.
