Ukraine will soon begin evacuating people who want to leave the newly liberated city of Kherson and surrounding areas, a senior official said on Saturday, citing damage caused by Russian forces in the area.
Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk said some people expressed a desire to move away from both Kherson and the area around Mykolayiv, about 65 kilometers to the northwest.
“This will be possible in the coming days,” he told a televised press conference when asked when evacuations would begin, saying the government had already made the necessary preparations.
Among those who wanted to leave were the elderly and those affected by Russian bombing, he added.
Kyiv says Russian troops destroyed critical Kherson infrastructure before withdrawing earlier this month.
“This is a voluntary evacuation. Currently, we are not talking about a forced evacuation,” Vereschuk said.
“But even in the case of voluntary evacuation, the state bears responsibility for transportation. People should be moved to the place where they will spend the winter,” he said.
The government had several options, one of which was to use Mykolaiv as a transit point before sending people further west to safer areas, he added.
In August, Vereschuk said Ukraine planned to expand the number of frontline areas where evacuation would be mandatory, as those areas could be occupied or face central heating problems this winter.
Source: News Beast
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