Kherson Oblast's illegal occupation government said that civilians must leave Kherson due to the tense situation on the front, shelling, and possible "terrorist attacks."
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 20 that Russia was planning to blow up the dam at the Russian-occupied Kakhovka Hydropower Plant in Kherson Oblast as part of a false-flag operation and blame Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War said on Oct. 22 that Russia is likely to “set conditions for Russian forces to damage the dam and then blame Ukraine while using the resulting floods to cover their own retreat further south into Kherson Oblast."
Vladimir Saldo, head of Kherson Oblast's illegal occupation government, announced on Oct. 20 an evacuation of civilians from municipalities around Kherson to the territories “on the Dnipro River’s left bank.”
The Russian occupiers on Oct. 18 said they would move up to 60,000 Ukrainian civilians to occupied parts of Ukraine or Russia. The Russians have already subjected more than a million Ukrainians throughout the country to forcible deportation and resettlement.
