The authorities in occupied Kherson backtracked on Friday after declaring a “round-the-clock curfew” in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“In Kherson, no restrictions would limit the life of the city,” Moscow-installed official Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram, after an announcement of a curfew on the same channel deleted.
As Stremousov insisted in his first video message: “Khersons will under a curfew for 24 hours, round the clock, so that our city may be defended.”
His next video, in which he edited out any mention of a curfew, followed by a third video in which he denied there was any restriction.
Currently, Kherson is under the full control of the military and law enforcement authorities, Stremousov wrote in his most recent Telegram message.
In a statement, Stremousov reiterated his call for residents to leave the city. But did not specify when they would do so.
Kiev’s forces prepare for a fierce battle to retake Khersons main city
While Kiev’s forces prepare for a fierce battle to retake Kherson’s main city. Moscow has been pulling civilians from the Kherson region.
As part of his statement, the president said on Friday that civilians living in the Kherson region should remove from “zones that are experiencing dangerous fighting”.
Ukraine says Moscow’s resettlement of civilians has a similar effect to the “deportations” that conducted in the Soviet era.
Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to overrun by Russian forces after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February. A city with a population of around 288,000 before the conflict broke out.
Russia claims to have annexed one of four Ukrainian regions since 2005, but does not fully control this region because it remains part of the former Soviet Union.
There have been reports that Kremlin-installed officials and their cronies plan to maintain their control over the city and turn it into a fortress.
