Ukrainian officials say the military has hit a key target in Kherson, while pro-Russian authorities are urging civilians to leave the southern region.
Serhii Khlan, a member of the Kherson regional council, said Ukrainian forces hit Russian air defense systems near the stadium in the city of Kherson. These systems were also used to shell Mykolayiv, sometimes to devastating effect.
Khlan posted a photo allegedly showing the “remains of the equipment.”
Khlan said there were also more hits in the Antonivskyi Bridge area, where Russian forces and the pro-Russian government have been operating ferries and pontoon bridges to supply the west bank, where thousands of Russian troops remain.
He said that in the town of Kakhovka – on the east bank of the Dnipro River – the three streets closest to the river would be forcibly evacuated. He said the Russians were “digging into the city and digging concrete ditches.”
Khlan said the Russians are “digging in on the east bank, preparing to defend, thinking that will make our offensive impossible. But the resistance movement and the armed forces of Ukraine continue to fight.”
Khlan repeated what other Ukrainian officials have claimed: that Russian-backed authorities have left the city of Kherson – which lies on the west bank – to set up an office in the city of Skadovsk, much closer to Crimea.
“As for the urgent and mandatory “evacuation” demanded by the Russians, our people will not go anywhere. If the locals did not have the opportunity to go to the occupied [Ukrainian-held] territory or decided to stay at home, they definitely don’t want to go to Russia,” Khlan said.