Russia expels residents of southern Ukrainian cities | Ukraine and Russia

The Russian government has said it wants all civilians to be deported to his forces to fight against the Ukrainian forces, which are advancing to retake the cityin the south of the country.

One of four cities illegally annexed by Russia After a referendum on secession that was not recognized by the international community, Kherson was occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of the war in Ukraineon February 24.

In recent weeks, however, the Ukraine He launched a powerful offensive to retake the city, with logistical and military support from Western countries.

The head of Russia’s local administration, Vladimir Saldo, said he would fight until the last minute for control of the city.

“The Ukrainian forces are stepping up their offensive, so there is no place for civilians. We do not plan to surrender and we will remain steadfast until the last minute. We will withdraw between 50,000 and 60,000 people to the left bank of the Dnieper River,” Saldo told Rossiya 24 state channel, “The river that marks the border with the city of Kherson. .

According to Seldo, the expulsion of civilians will be gradual. He said his forces aim to evacuate about 10,000 villagers a day over a period of six days.

He claimed it was a security measure for civilians, and said his forces in the area had the resources to maintain control of Kherson.

The Ukrainian government claimed that Russia He presents a “propaganda show” in Kherson in an attempt to prove that his forces are still holding out. Kyiv claims that Russian soldiers on the ground do not have the resources to fight.

President Vladimir Putin also declared, on Wednesday, martial law in the four annexed cities.

war in Ukraine It escalated in recent weeks, after the Ukrainian government began implementing a plan to retake areas controlled by Russian forces, backed by arms shipments from the West.

The Russiaas a response The referendum was held on the annexation of four cities Kherson, Zaporizhzhya (where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located), Donetsk and Luhansk, which were already partly under the control of pro-government separatist movements.Russia.

A week later, powerful explosions were attributed to Ukraine Destroyed part of the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskydid not accept responsibility for the attack, but did mention that “War Ukraine It started and will end with Crimea“.

The road, the only link to Crimea With Russian territory, it is also a powerful symbol of the Russian occupation, and was opened by Vladimir Putin himself in 2018.

Therefore, Putin ordered a powerful counterattack, and only two days later he bombed Kyiv, which had been relatively calm since the end of March, and was again the target of Russian bombing. It was The worst attack on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war on February 24.

Shortly after the attack, Vladimir Putin himself asserted that the missiles over the Ukrainian capital were in retaliation for the bridge bombing in Crimea.