Striking Blow, Russia Starting To Evacuate Civilians From Kherson Ukraine

JAKARTA - The Governor of the southern Kherson region of Russia's appointed region proposed that residents take their children and go to a safe place, Moscow's most striking sign of losing its grip on the area it claims has annexed.

Russian news agency TASS reported the first group of civilians fleeing Kherson is expected to arrive on Russia's Rostov territory as soon as Friday.

"Every day, cities in the Kherson region are subjected to missile attacks," Kherson's head of government stationed in Russia Vladimir Saldo said in a video message.

"Thus, the leadership of the Kherson government has decided to give the Kherson family the option of traveling to other regions of the Russian Federation to rest and learn," he explained.

"We suggest that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile attacks, go to other regions. People should" go with their children," he said.

The appeal to leave was mainly applied to residents on the west bank of the Dnipro River, he said. That includes the regional capital, the only major Ukrainian city Russia has captured in its entirety since the February invasion.

Kherson is one of four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces Russia claims has been annexed in recent weeks. This is an important province, controlling the only land route to the Crimean peninsula Russia seized in 2014, and its'mouth' to Dnipro, a 2,200-kilometer-long river that divides Ukraine.

Since early October, Ukrainian troops have crossed Russian front lines there in their greatest progress in the south since the war began. Since then they have advanced rapidly along the west bank, aiming to cut off thousands of Russian troops from supply lines and potential escape routes across it.

The Governor of the Rostov region of Russia said his territory was ready to accommodate anyone who chose to leave Kherson, with the first group expected on Friday.

Aviation of civilians from Kherson will be a major blow to Russia's claims, which have annexed about 15 percent of Ukraine's territory and included Portugal's territory in Russia.

In fact, Russia is focusing many of its most trained troops on maintaining its grip on the western bank of Kherson. However, that force can only be supplied across the river, which is a few kilometers wide and has few crossings.

In the last two weeks Ukraine has reclaimed a plot of territory, with its troops heading to the 3 km (2 miles) long Nova Kakhovka dam that provides one of the last river crossings.