“Evacuation towards Crimea”
Ukraine: Occupiers in Cherson region before withdrawal
02/27/2023, 4:25 p.m
For months, Cherson has repeatedly been the target of Russian attacks. Rockets keep flying towards the Ukrainian city, especially from the opposite side of the river. But now the Russian occupiers are to prepare for the withdrawal.
The occupation authorities deployed by Moscow in the cities of Oleshky and Skadowsk in the Kherson region are preparing to “flight” to Russian-occupied Crimea, fearing a Ukrainian counter-offensive. That’s what he reported General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the Ukrainian military, local collaborators began leaving the region on February 21 for the Crimean cities of Bakhchisarai, Simferopol and Kerch.
On Feb. 24, Russian proxies in Kherson Oblast announced the so-called evacuation for “anyone interested,” the General Staff wrote in its morning update. Oleshky is on the east bank of the Dnipro River, 23 kilometers across from liberated Kherson, while Skadovsk is on the Black Sea, much closer to Crimea.
Russian forces had occupied the city of Kherson for more than eight months after the war began almost a year ago, before withdrawing under pressure from the Ukrainian defenders. Shortly before the Russian units retreated to the east bank of the nearby River Dnipro, Moscow officially annexed the area. Since then, the city, which once had almost 280,000 inhabitants, has been under Russian fire almost every day.
At least six people were killed in an attack last week. According to the “South” command of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian army shelled the city with multiple rocket launchers.