Kyiv, July 10 (R) – Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister on Sunday urged civilians in the Russian-held southern Kherson region to evacuate as Ukrainian forces prepared a counterattack there.
Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including the capital of the same name, in the first few weeks after Russia’s February 24 invasion.
“It is clear that there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling… and we are therefore urging (people) to evacuate urgently,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.
w
R
She said she could not say exactly when the counter-offensive would take place.
“I know for a fact that women and children shouldn’t be there and they shouldn’t become human shields,” she said.
Kherson’s Russia-installed authorities say they want to hold a referendum on secession to Russia, but have not set a date. The Kremlin says the region’s future should be determined by its residents.
The Kherson region includes the city of Kherson, which had almost 300,000 inhabitants before the war. How many residents of the city are still there is not known.
w
R
Reporting by Max Hunder Edited by Tom Balmforth and Frances Kerry
Our standards: The Thomson R Trust Principles.