Putin urges Kherson residents to evacuate amid doubts over whether Russia plans to fight or retreat

Some Ukrainian officials warned Thursday that signs of a potential Russian withdrawal from the crucial southern city could be a trap. [jb see]

image (not from article) from 

by Reuters, NBC News

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that civilians in Ukraine’s Kherson region should be evacuated from the conflict zone, the Kremlin chief’s first acknowledgement of a deteriorating situation in a region he claims to have annexed.

“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” Putin told pro-Kremlin activists as he marked Russia’s Day of National Unity.

Putin’s remark, which came unprompted after one activist told the Russian president on Red Square about his work delivering Russian flags to Kherson, was shown on state television and reported by state news agency RIA.

Within hours of his comment, Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy governor of the Kherson region said a 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Kherson City, amid what he said was a likely Ukrainian offensive.

In video message posted on Telegram, said that the curfew was necessary “in order to defend our city of Kherson” from what he referred to as “terrorist attacks.”

He also repeated earlier calls for civilians to leave the city, saying that columns of Ukrainian vehicles had been spotted on areas of the frontline and that an attack was possible.

His message comes amid growing questions about whether Russian forces will stay and wage a bloody battle for the city of Kherson, or were signaling an imminent retreat. Some Ukrainian officials warned Thursday that signs of a potential Russian withdrawal from the crucial southern city could be a trap.

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On Kherson and Potemkin's bones, and on some famous Russians from Kherson, see

 

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