The Ukraine’s government will provide additional evacuation routes for Ukrainians willing to leave the eastern bank of occupied Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine, according to Yaroslav Yanushevych, the Head of Kherson Oblast State Administration.
“The evacuation is needed due to possible intensification of hostilities on the eastern bank of Dnipro River in occupied part of Kherson. Oblast. River crossings will be allowed during daytime hours only,” Yanushevych announced on 2 December 2022.
Thus, all Ukrainians willing to leave the Russian-occupied region will be allowed to use newly established evacuation routes to cross the Dnipro River and reach the Ukraine-controlled western bank of Kherson Oblast.
The Ukrainian authorities do not clarify whether there is an agreement with the Russian occupation administration stationed on the other side of the Dnipro River. Russia has not yet commented on the evacuation initiative of the Ukrainian authorities.
On 11 November 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the western bank of Kherson Oblast, including the city of Kherson (the regional center of Kherson Oblast) after eight months of Russian occupation. Currently, the Russian forces still occupy 72% of Kherson Oblast. All of the Russian-controlled territories of Kherson Oblast are located on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
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