Russian-appointed authorities of the Kherson region called on residents the city of Kherson to leave “immediately” and relocate to the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro “because of the tense situation at the front, the increased danger of massive strikes on the city, and the threat of terrorist attacks.”
“Kherson civilians and all divisions and ministries of the civil administration must cross to the left bank today,” read a post on the regional administration’s Telegram channel.
“We won’t force anyone, we won’t drag anyone anywhere. There is a group of ‘waiters.’ They’re waiting for Ukrainian Armed Forces. But I think the only thing awaiting them is UAF shells,” said Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the administration of the annexed Kherson region.
On October 18, Vladimir Saldo, the head of the annexed region, announced an “organized relocation” to the Dnipro’s left bank for residents of four municipalities. Kherson was not on that list of municipalities. But the next day, residents of the city received text messages urging them to leave. They were promised housing certificates on moving to Russia.
According to Saldo, Russian-appointed Kherson authorities plan to “relocate around 50 to 60 thousand people to the left bank and to other regions of Russia.” Stremousov has said that 25,000 people had already been transported from the right to the left bank of the Dnipro as of October 21.
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On October 20, the Russian defense ministry reported a Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive in Kherson and the Donbas. Not long before, the new commander of the invasion of Ukraine, Sergey Surovikin, said that “the situation is not straightforward in the Kherson region,” and that he couldn’t rule out “making difficult decisions” there.
On October 21, the Ukrainian Army reported that Russian troops had started to retreat from the western part of the Kherson region. According to Ukrainian authorities and the American Institute for the Study of War, Russia may blow up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydropower Station to cover the retreat and prevent Ukrainians from chasing Russian troops deep into the Kherson region.
