Kherson highly dangerous for residents to stay: Russian military

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Sergei Surovikin, the general of the Russian armed forces and the commander of all units in the special military operation zone said on Tuesday that the Kherson region is highly dangerous for its residents to remain there as Ukrainian forces regularly target civilian infrastructure. 

"HIMARS rockets hit the Antonovsky bridge and the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, traffic on which was stopped. As a result, the delivery of food products is difficult in the city, there are certain problems with the water and electricity supply. All this not only significantly complicates the life of citizens, but also creates a direct threat to their lives," Surovikin told reporters.

He further added that Ukrainian forces are deliberately targeting civilian apartment buildings, houses, and infrastructure. The general said there was intel about the possibility of Ukraine preparing a missile strike on the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.

"In these conditions, our primary goal is to save lives and preserve the health of civilians. Therefore, first of all, the Russian military will ensure the safe, already announced departure of the population under the resettlement program being prepared by the Russian government," Surovikin said.

According to Surovikin, the Russian aviation and air defense systems have shown themselves throughout the military action in Ukraine.

"The special military operation has confirmed the effectiveness of the aviation systems and air defense systems we have in service." 

The military commander further mentioned that during the special operation, warplanes flew more than 34,000 times and more than 7,000 guided aircraft missiles were employed.

The most recent Kinzhal hypersonic air missiles have shown to be effective at hitting targets, Surovikin said.

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The decision to relocate residents from some districts of the region to the left bank of the Dnieper river was made, according to the acting governor of Kherson Region Vladimir Saldo, who made the announcement on Tuesday.

"I made a difficult but correct decision to announce the organized departure of the civilian population of the Berislav, Belozersky, Snigiryovsky, and Aleksandrovsky municipalities to the left bank of the Dnieper," Saldo wrote on his Telegram channel.

Saldo added that if Ukrainian forces damage the dam of the Kakhova hydroelectric power facility, flooding could occur in some sections of the Kherson region.

On August 4, Amnesty International published a statement in which it accused the Ukrainian military of going against international humanitarian law protocol of international armed conflict, due to their bases being located in civilian-dense areas and institutions like schools and hospitals.

Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in the statement, "We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas."

Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repudiated the agency, accusing it of seeking to shift "the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim," Callamard on Friday told AFP in an email that Amnesty fully stands by the report subject to the "same rigorous standards" as all of Amnesty's publications. 

Last week, the Kherson Region Health Ministry reported on its Telegram channel that five people were killed as a result of a Ukrainian attack on a civilian bus in the region.

Earlier reports indicated that four civilians were killed and three were wounded in an attack by Ukrainian nationalists on civilians on board a bus on a bridge in Daryevka.

According to TASS, the Ukrainians used US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to target the bus.

In the same context, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson Region's military-civilian administration, revealed that the Ukrainian armed forces executed 16 people in the town of Velikaya Aleksandrovka.

Stremousov told TASS that the Ukrainian armed forces "simply took out men and women without understanding, put them against the wall, and shot them like punishers."

Earlier today, the acting governor of Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, has announced the organized relocation of civilians to the left bank of the Dnepr river.

According to Saldo, “there is an immediate danger of flooding of the territories” due to “the planned destruction of the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and the discharge of water from the cascade of power plants” up the Dnieper. 

Kherson is deporting residents from the right bank of the Dnieper ahead of a Ukrainian advance. Early to tell but after new Russian commander Surovikin’s speech today, signs are increasingly pointing to a Russian withdrawal from the city, and possibly a major Ukrainian victory. pic.twitter.com/eRG3qEsh9n

— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) October 18, 2022

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