Russia calls to evacuate Kherson

Ukraine closes in on captured city

Russia will help evacuate civilians from Kherson after Kremlin-backed authorities in the region asked for aid following a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“The government took the decision to organise assistance for the departure of residents of the (Kherson) region to other regions of the country,” Russian deputy prime minister Marat Khusnullin said on state television.

Russian forces are likely attempting to consolidate a new front line west from the village of Mylove, according to British intelligence.

A grinding Ukrainian counteroffensive, launched in September, has recaptured swathes of land in the southern Kherson region, with Kyiv’s forces edging towards the regional capital, Kherson city.

It was claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops in the southern region had been forced to retreat nearly 20km since early October.

The Ukrainian military this week said it had liberated five more settlements in the region.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russianinstalled leader of the occupied Kherson region, called on Moscow to help evacuate civilians, in a sign the counter-offensive is gaining pace.

“We suggested to all people of the Kherson region to, if they wish, leave to other regions to protect themselves from missile hits,” he wrote on the Telegram website.

“In addressing the leadership of the country [Russia], I ask you to help organise this work.”

He added: “We, the people of the Kherson region, know that Russia does not abandon its own.”

A flight of civilians from Kherson would be a major blow to Russia’s claim to have annexed 15 per cent of Ukraine’s territory this month and incorporated an area the size of Portugal into Russia.

Russia has concentrated many of its best-trained troops to defend its grip on Kherson, the only big Ukrainian city it has captured intact since its invasion in February, and its only foothold on the Dnipro’s west bank.

British military officials said Russia has become concerned that fighting could soon reach the city itself. Ukraine has continued to use long-range weapons, such as the USprovided Himars system, to target Russian logistical hubs behind enemy lines.

Meanwhile, Putin continued his aerial barrage on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where residents were awoken by the sound of air-raid sirens for the fourth consecutive day.

Oleksiy Kuleba, the Kyiv regional governor, said Thursday night’s strike using Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones, hit a village near the capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that his country had just 10 per cent of the required air-defence systems needed.