‘Get yourself to safety. The Ukrainian army will be shelling out,” residents were notified via text message on Wednesday morning. The urgent appeal shows the Russian side’s nervousness about the Ukrainian offensive to retake the southern city from the Russians. The newly appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, admitted on Wednesday that the situation around Kherson is “difficult”.
Notably, President Putin declared martial law in Kherson and three other Ukrainian regions that Russia recently annexed. This gives the administrators and the army more powers to strike down any resistance among the population.
The deputy head of the occupation administration, Kirill Stremooesov, said the evacuation is part of “strengthening the defences” of the city. “Kherson is going to be a fortress,” he announced.
Thousands of people have now answered the call, according to Governor Vladimir Saldo. But there is also resistance to the evacuation, because residents are only allowed to enter areas that are in Russian hands. “Pure deportation,” said Viktor, a 65-year-old opponent of the Russian occupation, via a secure connection from the city.
Road closed
The atmosphere in Kherson has been “rather tense” since the call for evacuation, he said. ‘There is no panic yet, but people are wondering what to do. Stay or leave the city? But where to?’
Traveling to territory controlled by the Ukrainians has become impossible. “They’ve closed off the last route to Ukrainian territory. Last week it was almost impossible to get through the checkpoint: there were long lines of cars, but they only let people through slowly. Now that last passage is closed.’
For the time being, according to Viktor, there is no sign of the Ukrainian shelling on the city that the occupation authorities are warning about. “There have been rocket attacks before, but only very focused, on barracks and similar targets, not on residential areas.”
The strange thing is that the residents have recently felt that the advance of the Ukrainian army has somewhat stalled. “People are wondering what the evacuation call means,” says Viktor. “You start to worry, but at the same time you get hope. Perhaps our liberators are indeed coming?’
Families in safety
The pro-Russian authorities are indeed concerned. The schools are closed and some of the children have been sent ‘on vacation’ to the occupied Crimea or the Caucasus. Also, the new administrators have recently brought their own families to safety on the left bank of the Dnipro or Russian-occupied Crimea.
It is likely that part of the population left behind will heed the call for evacuation. ‘Some support the Russians, others don’t really, but now choose eggs for their money’, says Viktor. Moscow has promised financial support and housing to people who want to settle in Russia. “A lot of people I know here will never respond to that. They are horrified to end up in Russia’, says Viktor, who was born in Russia himself.
For the time being, he and his wife have not yet had a visit at home from Russian soldiers or their accomplices from the new city government. ‘But we are not participating in that evacuation under any circumstances. If it ends in forced deportation, we’ll hide somewhere.’
Even though a large part of the pro-Kyiv inhabitants have left the city, Viktor still notices that there is a lot of hatred against the Russian occupier. ‘After the attack on the Krimbrug, there was a lot of secret glee in the market, of course you have to be careful who you speak to. Too bad they didn’t blow up that whole bridge, was the mood.’
target practice
Gradually, the atmosphere in the city becomes more and more grim. Meanwhile, the first newly mobilized soldiers from Russia have arrived. For the time being, they are not showing themselves in the city, but according to residents it can be clearly heard how they hold target practice outside the city.
From the northwest, heavy explosions can be heard in the distance. ‘Hopefully the liberation won’t be long in coming’, says Viktor. “We were already starting to lose hope a bit.”