With the Principles of Occupation Russians Kherson Square to expect from an hour to an hour long Ukrainian attack, the message was clear: leave your homes now. Most civilians have long since left the area, heading for areas controlled by Ukraine. On Friday, the occupying authorities in Zaporozhye ordered the evacuation of 18 villages and towns, citing an escalation in hostilities. About 70,000 people are expected to be displaced, according to a Moscow-appointed local official. The Russian military appears to be strengthening and preparing for combat, Kyiv said.

The expected Ukrainian counterattack prompted Moscow to order the evacuation of civilians, but most of them were refused.

However, in areas subject to evacuation, few people obey Russian evacuation orders. Bogdan Staronov, the exiled head of the Vasilevsky district, says that about 80 of the 5,000 residents left in the area have agreed to leave their homes. Before the war, 22 thousand people lived in Vasilifka. Galina, 58, a resident of the Russian-controlled town of Polokha, says Russian authorities abruptly announced the end of the school year on Friday. Dozens of buses arrived at the school, and parents were ordered to sit in them with their children.

After the buses left, those parents who refused to leave were made to sign responsible statements that they understood the risks and took responsibility for their decision. The exiled mayor of Polokha, Artur Krupsky, learned from the residents that the buses, accompanied by police patrol cars, were heading south, to the port of Berdyansk. This was confirmed by the headquarters of the Ukrainian army, showing that the Russian authorities relocated residents to the old camps in the resorts of Berdyansk and Primorsk. “Those who leave are mostly accomplices of the occupying forces. Many of them hope to take refuge in CrimeaKrupsky comments.

Absolute chaos reigned in the city of Energondar, where most of the workers of the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant live. The exiled mayor of Energondar, Dmitry Orlov, said on Sunday that security conditions at the facility had worsened and the order to evacuate the city had caused panic. “Gas stations ran out of fuel, local hospital equipment was looted, and the cost of medicines and supplies has skyrocketed,” says Orloff, who keeps in touch with fellow villagers in the occupied city.

An Ergondar resident said that when he went to the grocery store over the weekend to buy groceries, he found the door closed. A Russian soldier approached him and said that the shop was closed “forever”.