MADRID, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The pro-Russian authorities of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, have ordered civilians to leave the regional capital before the imminence of a great battle that the Ukrainian side is also beginning to take for granted, with cross accusations between the two sides.
Several officials of the administration close to Moscow have urged the local population to leave the area as soon as possible, in anticipation of an offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The pro-Russian mayor of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, has claimed that Russian forces plan to take 50,000 to 60,000 to occupied territories across the Dnieper River and into Russia.
A Russian official, Sergei Surovikin, has also warned the TASS agency of these imminent operations and has focused a hydroelectric plant among the potential targets.
Nikolayev’s governor, Vitali Kim, an ally of kyiv, has instead accused Russian troops of preparing to bomb the city of Kherson themselves. In this sense, he has assured that it is the occupying forces who have begun to prepare the area for future combat, reports the UNIAN agency.
Ukraine’s Kherson region was one of four whose annexation was signed this month by Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite the fact that Russian forces do not control the entire territory.