Ukrainian officials say the military struck an important target in Kherson, as pro-Russian authorities press civilians to leave the southern region.
Serhii Khlan, member of the Kherson Regional Council, said Ukrainian forces hit Russian air defense systems close to the stadium in Kherson city. Those systems have also been used to shell Mykolaiv, sometimes with devastating effect.
Khlan posted a photograph purportedly showing the “remains of the equipment.”
Khlan said there had also been further hits in the area of the Antonivskyi bridge, where Russian forces and the pro-Russian administration have been operating ferries and pontoon bridges to resupply the west bank, where thousands of Russian troops remain.
He said that in the city of Kakhovka — on the east bank of the river Dnipro — the three streets closest to the river were being forcibly evacuated. He said the Russians “in the city are digging in, setting up concrete trenches.”
Khlan said the Russians “are digging in on the east bank, preparing for defense, thinking that this make our offensive impossible. But the resistance movement and the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to fight.”
Khlan repeated what other Ukrainian officials have asserted: that the Russian-backed authorities have left the city of Kherson — which is on the west bank — to set up office in the city of Skadovsk, much closer to Crimea.
“As for the urgent and mandatory “evacuation” called for by the Russians, our people are not going to go anywhere. If the locals did not have the opportunity to go to the de-occupied [Ukrainian-held] territory or decided to stay at home, they definitely do not want to go to Russia,” Khlan said.