Moscow-installed illegal occupation authorities in Kherson Oblast’s Nova Kakhovka announced they would conduct a so-called voluntary evacuation of residents on Dec. 13.
"The evacuation is being carried out because the settlements of the Nova Kakhovka district are located within the 15-kilometer combat zone on the east bank of the Dnipro River," the occupation administration said on Telegram.
The announcement comes amid Ukraine’s ongoing military operations on the river’s occupied east bank, where Russian troops have already lost around 3,500 soldiers, according to the Ukrainian Marines.
Ukraine’s military has been conducting cross-river raids into the occupied part of Kherson Oblast since February, with more intensified attacks reported in August.
The U.K. Defense Ministry said in July that Ukrainian forces were maintaining a beachhead near the Antonivsky Bridge, linking the Ukraine-controlled and Russian-held parts of Kherson Oblast.
Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the river’s west bank in the fall 2022 counteroffensive. Russian forces were pushed to the east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories.
Russian-installed proxies in the occupied regions have conducted forced evacuation campaigns as part of their efforts to depopulate Ukrainian territory and pressure residents to take Russian passports.
By the same token, occupying authorities prevented evacuation from areas flooded after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Kherson Oblast.
