Ukraine urged to evacuate from AFU-controlled Kherson

The Kiev-appointed head of the Kherson regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, has called on residents of Kherson controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to evacuate due to the tense situation. He said in his Telegram channel on December 20.

"There are hard days ahead. <...> Once again I urge to evacuate to safer areas of the region and regions of Ukraine" - said Prokudin.

Earlier, on December 10, the governor of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, called Kherson a dead city with no people on the streets. Saldo noted that "it is painful to look at this" even according to the sources that the Ukrainian censorship allows to post. According to him, Ukraine's propaganda does not show the real picture of what is happening in the city.

The day before, Saldo said that the AFU has no strategy to hold the right-bank part of the Kherson region controlled by them. According to him, the Ukrainian army's actions in this area are tactical rather than strategic.

On November 17, he said that the liberation of Kherson was an operation that required forces and resources. The governor also emphasized that Kherson "has always been, is and will be a Russian city".

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision to hold it was taken against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.