Kremlin-appointed leaders of the occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine say they have begun evacuating civilians further from the front line.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-backed governor of Kherson, told Russian television on Tuesday that they intend to move up to 60,000 people to the left bank of the Dnipro River.
Ukraine has previously said that Russia is forcibly deporting Ukrainian civilians; Human rights groups and international organizations have warned that the practice may constitute a crime against humanity.
Saldo had announced the “organized relocation” of civilians on Telegram on Tuesday.
“Our key task is to save human lives and allow the troops of the Russian Federation to effectively fulfill their duties to protect the Kherson region,” he said.
“We will bring the civilian population to the left bank in an organized and gradual manner.”
All ministries of the civil administration installed by Russia in the Kherson region will also move to the left bank of the Dnipro, Saldo said, adding that entry to the region will be closed to civilians for seven days.
Residents of Kherson received a text message on Wednesday morning asking them to leave the city due to a shelling threat from the Ukrainian military, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported.
Russia’s “mass deportation of civilians” could, along with other alleged abuses, constitute crimes against humanity, according to a July report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
In September, Ukraine’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, told the UN Security Council that Russia had forcibly deported 2.5 million people from Ukraine, including 38,000 children, saying that it was a violation of human rights.
The Kremlin’s mass evacuation of Kherson citizens comes amid Kyiv’s efforts to regain territory in the south.
A Russian official warned on Wednesday of a possible new Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kherson.
Saldo MP Kirill Stremousov said the situation was “stable” but alleged that the Ukrainian army could attack “at any time” and asked people to cross to the left bank of the river Dnipro.
“On the morning of October 19, the situation on the fronts and approaches in the Kherson region is stable,” he said.
“The enemy is concentrating its forces and may at any time start launching attacks against the civilian population of Kherson and the Kherson region. No one will retreat, but we want to save your lives. Please cross to the left bank (of the Dnipro River) as soon as possible.”
The Ukrainian deputy head of the Kherson region, Yurii Sobolevskyi, has described the “evacuations” from Russia as the “semi-voluntary deportation of the Ukrainian population.”
Sobolevskyi confirmed to CNN that evacuations were underway.
“People are leaving. Now there are a lot of people in the port of Kherson,” he said.
“Today they started sending mass SMS to people about the evacuation. They also started distributing notebooks about the actions during the evacuation. At the same time, the message is spreading among the population that if they go to Russia they will receive certificates of “housing”.
Sobolevskyi, who spoke to CNN from Kyiv, accused Russian-backed authorities of “escalating the hysteria.”
“On the one hand, we understand that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will liberate Kherson and the region, so there may be active hostilities, and this is a risk for the local population.
“On the other hand, there are no guarantees that the evacuated people will be safe (where they are going) and far from the front line. People will make their own decisions: leave or stay. It’s hard to say what decision they will make.”