Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that civilians in the Ukrainian region of Kherson which Russia declared it had annexed in September must be evacuated from the conflict zone, state-owned news agency RIA reported.
RIA quoted Putin as saying during a meeting with pro-Kremlin activists on Friday: "Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer."
Russian-installed officials in Kherson region, one of four Ukrainian provinces that Putin declared part of Russia at a Kremlin ceremony in September, have pleaded for civilians to leave the region's west, where Ukrainian forces have retaken ground in recent weeks, reports Reuters.
On Thursday, Kherson's Russian-appointed deputy governor Kirill Stremousov issued several video appeals for civilians to leave the part of the province on the west bank of the Dnipro river. He said that Russian forces would likely soon give up the west bank of the Dnipro to Ukraine.