Confusion after Russians told to evacuate annexed Kherson with their children

Ukraine is making gains in Kherson, with Russian-backed officials saying their citizens are coming under attack (Picture: EPA)

The Russian-backed leader of Kherson has today told residents to flee the annexed region after further Ukrainian advances.

Vladimir Saldo publicly asked for Moscow’s help in transporting civilians who want to evacuate to safer parts of Russia.

But the Governor’s intervention was almost immediately denied and contradicted by his deputy.

The bizarre spat comes in a week that Ukrainian cities faced some of their heaviest bombardments for months, in retaliation for a blast on a key bridge linking Crimea to Moscow.

Ukraine has been making steady gains following a lightning counter attack – but Vladimir Putin announced last week the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, including Kherson, following sham referenda.

The Moscow-installed governor of the southern region told people take their children and flee in a video on Telegram.

‘Every day, the cities of Kherson region are subjected to missile attacks,’ Saldo said.

Russian forces have been losing ground in Kherson region, but still hold the city of Kherson (Picture: EPA)

A Russian soldier fires an anti-tank rocket in the Kherson region last month (Picture: EPA)

‘As such, the leadership of Kherson administration has decided to provide Kherson families with the option to travel to other regions of the Russian Federation to rest and study.

‘We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, … go to other regions,’ he added – advising people to “leave with their children.’

Kherson is partially occupied and arguably the most strategically important of the four annexed regions.

It controls both the only land route to the Crimean peninsula Russia seized in 2014, and the mouth of the Dnipro river.

Since the start of October, Ukrainian forces have been rampaging through Russian lines in their biggest advance in the south since the war began.

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They have since been advancing rapidly along the west bank of the Dnipro, aiming to cut off thousands of Russian troops from supply lines and potential escape routes back across it.

Moments after Saldo’s message, his deputy, Kirill Stremousov, issued a statement denying any plan to evacuate.

‘There is and can be no evacuation in Kherson region,’ he claimed.

‘Nobody is planning to withdraw Russian troops from the Kherson region.’

Civilians leaving Kherson could be seen as a major blow to Russia’s claim to the region, which has already been rubbished by the international community.

The city of Kherson is the only large city Russia has captured intact since the start on the invasion.

But its forces there can only be supplied across the river, leaving some analysts to think they could be vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Mykolaiv, the nearest big Ukrainian-held city to Kherson, came under massive Russian bombardment on Thursday, with civilian facilities hit, local officials said.

Regional governor Vitaly Kim said the top two floors of a five-story residential building were destroyed and the rest were under rubble.

Video footage provided by state emergency services showed rescuers pulling out an 11-year-old boy who Kim said had spent six hours trapped under the rubble.

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MORE : Ukraine should be ‘constantly battered’ by missile strikes says Putin fanatic

The region’s Moscow-backed Governor made the claim – before it was swiftly contradicted by his deputy.