Civilians in Kherson in occupied southern Ukraine “must be removed” from “dangerous” combat zones, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, as Moscow faced a Ukrainian counter-offensive there. “Those currently living in Kherson must be kept away from the most dangerous combat zones,” the Kremlin chief said during a short ceremony in Moscow’s Red Square to mark Russian National Unity Day.
“The civilian population should not suffer from the bombardments resulting from offensive, counter-offensive and other measures”, he added during an exchange in particular with Russian volunteers engaged in the region of Kherson, Ukrainian territory for which Moscow claims annexation since the end of September.
70,000 civilians have already left their homes, according to Russian forces
The Russian occupation authorities in Kherson announced on Tuesday that they had begun the displacement of “up to 70,000 people” who are currently on the left bank of the Dnieper River. Last week, the Russian occupation forces had already indicated that 70,000 civilians had left their homes located to the west on the right bank of the river and closer to the front line.
To stem the Ukrainian dynamic on the ground, Vladimir Putin announced on September 21 the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists to support the Russian army. “We already have 318,000 (mobilised). Why 318,000? Because volunteers continue to arrive. The number of volunteers is not decreasing”, welcomed the Russian president, whose Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, had given on October 28 the figure of 300,000 mobilized.
“A very old Russian city”
According to Vladimir Putin, 49,000 of them are already deployed in military units fighting in Ukraine. Regarding Mariupol, a large port in southeastern Ukraine that the Russian army conquered in the spring after a siege of several months, Vladimir Putin said on Friday that it was “a very old Russian city” and indicated that he wanted start major reconstruction work.
Earlier Friday, the Russian president laid a wreath at the foot of the monument in tribute to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, two figures in Russian history who helped liberate Moscow from Polish occupation in the early 17th century. century. Russian National Unity Day, not worked in Russia, commemorates this popular revolt against Polish-Lithuanian forces in 1612.