The Russian-installed authorities in Kherson Oblast (southern Ukraine) announced on Friday that they would begin evacuating people with reduced mobility from the occupied town of Kakhovka as part of a wider resettlement of civilians to the left bank of the Dnieper, Reuters and Agerpres. report.

Russian military in the east of the occupied Kherson regionPhoto: Yevhen Biyatov / Sputnik / Profimedia

Last month, the Russian army retreated from the right bank of the Dnieper, including the city of Kherson, the administrative center of the region of the same name, in one of the largest retreats of the war.

This withdrawal means that the great Dnieper River now forms the front line in the south of the country, with both sides firing heavy weapons at each other from both banks.

The administration installed by Russia in Kakhovka said that the bedridden and disabled would be taken to Henitsk, to the southeast.

“Take care of yourself and your loved ones!”, she started in a post on Telegram, urging people to sign up for evacuation.

The pro-Russian authorities have set up an emergency telephone line to help those leaving.

A woman who answered an emergency phone told Reuters that evacuations were taking place on a large scale in a number of settlements on the left bank of the river, including Oleski and Nova Kakhovka, the site of a huge hydroelectric dam.

“From October 20, martial law was introduced. All civilians have been evacuated,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of martial law, which applies to the Kherson region, as well as three other Ukrainian regions recently annexed by Russia – Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk – approaching. Moscow has recognized it as illegal in most countries.

She declined to comment on the conditions in the affected cities, the reason for the evacuation or the number of victims.

Before leaving Kherson, Russia evacuated tens of thousands of residents in an operation that Kyiv called forced deportation.

Kherson authorities are encouraging people to leave certain areas on the left bank and promise that those who leave will be well protected elsewhere, Reuters notes.

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