Ukraine calls Russia’s evacuation of Kherson residents a ‘propaganda show’

Occupation authorities in Kherson said they began evacuating residents from the western bank of the Dnipro river as the Kremlin-appointed leader in the southern Ukrainian region warned of a looming offensive by Kyiv.

But the claims of evacuation and an impending attack were part of a Russian disinformation campaign to lay the groundwork for an armed provocation that Moscow will blame on Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday.

Volodymyr Saldo, who was appointed by Moscow to lead Kherson following the illegal annexation of that region and Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia in late September, claimed in a video address on Tuesday night that Ukrainian forces would soon launch a “large-scale offensive”.

On Wednesday, Russian state television aired video of what it claimed was a long queue of residents preparing to board ferries that would take them to the Dnipro’s eastern banks, a part of the Kherson region that is more tightly controlled by Russian forces.

“The Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with fake newsletters about the shelling of the city by our army, and also arrange a propaganda show with evacuation,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on Telegram. He added that this was “a rather primitive tactic, given that the armed forces do not fire at Ukrainian cities — this is done exclusively by Russian terrorists.”

The comments came as Ukrainian air defence systems intercepted missiles in Kyiv and other cities, as Russia launched their latest barrage of attacks targeting critical infrastructure on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin also announced that martial law in the occupied Ukrainian territories would come into force on Thursday.

The Ukrainian army has been advancing slowly towards the city of Kherson over the past month, sweeping through towns and villages in a counteroffensive intended to force a Russian retreat to the other side of the Dnipro river.

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In his first public comments since he was appointed as the new general in charge of Russian forces in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin told state television that Russia’s occupation forces would need to make “hard decisions” to ensure control of the strategically important southern region. He described the situation for the Russian military as “tense”.

He did not announce a military withdrawal from the western bank of the Dnipro, but his comments underscored the shaky hold his forces have on the city of Kherson after Ukrainian attacks on bridges, ammunition depots and command and control centres.

“Our future plans and actions regarding the city of Kherson will depend on the unfolding military-tactical situation,” Surovikin said late on Tuesday.

Serhiy Kuzan, an adviser at Ukraine’s defence ministry, said the evacuation announcement amounts to a “forced deportation of civilians who have been taken hostage and are being exploited” and that warnings of Ukrainian strikes were part of an “information campaign”.

“They are setting the narrative before a planned provocation, in which they will blame Ukraine for the bombing of the city of Kherson or civilians,” Kuzan told the Financial Times. “This is an information cover operation for what they plan to do. This means that something will happen for which they will blame Ukraine.”

As the movement of civilians got under way, Saldo announced the closure of the only northern exit of Kherson. Russia is not allowing civilians from Kherson region to evacuate to Ukraine controlled territory, Kuzan added. Most of the Kherson region and its capital city was invaded and occupied by Russian forces in the early days of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.

Ukraine will not fire on bridges or vessels being used while citizens cross the Dnipro River, Kuzan said. But Ukraine’s forces will continue to advance in the Kherson region, he added, and that there were “tough battles” ahead.