In a Telegram post, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-backed head of the region, which is partially held by Russian forces, said he was expanding an evacuation zone in the region and – for the first time – asked civilians on the eastern side of Dnipro river bank to leave their homes. The new area will cover an additional 15-kilometer (nine-mile) zone around the Dnipro River, which divides the Kherson region, to include seven more settlements, Saldo said. “Due to the possibility of the use of prohibited methods of warfare by the Ukrainian regime, as well as information that Kyiv is preparing a massive missile attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric station, there is an immediate danger that the Kherson region will be flooded,” Saldo. he said in a video message posted Monday afternoon. This could lead to “mass destruction of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian disaster,” he said. “Given the situation, I decided to extend the evacuation zone by 15 kilometers from Dnipro … the decision will make it possible to create a multi-layered defense to repel Ukrainian attacks and protect civilians.” Kyiv has denied plans to attack the Kakhovka Dam, a 30-meter (100-foot) high, 3.2-kilometer-long facility, and release a reservoir the size of the Great Salt Lake in southern Ukraine, flooding towns and villages, many of them Russian forces were occupied at the beginning of the war. Ukraine said repeated Russian claims that Ukraine was preparing an attack on the dam, which regulates water supplies to the annexed Crimean peninsula and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, were a sign that Russia itself was considering mounting an attack and accuse Kyiv and its Western supporters. . Russia has evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from the west bank of the Dnipro River in recent weeks, under the advancing Ukrainian counter-offensive. Officials based in Russia are offering citizens one-time payments of 100,000 rubles ($1,628) to leave, and Moscow is providing housing in other regions of Russia, Saldo said. Just last week, some Russian-backed administrators in the region ruled out evacuating civilians from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. President Vladimir Putin moved to annex Kherson last month after holding referendums in four Ukrainian regions that were denounced as false and illegal by Kyiv and the West. ($1 = 61.43 rubles) Report by Jake Cordell. Editing by Kim Coghill, Stephen Coates and Jan Harvey Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
