About 25,000 residents leave Russian-occupied city on ferries and buses as fears grow of an imminent Ukrainian attack.
Russia has urged people in occupied Kherson to flee for their lives ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian push to recapture the southern city.
Russian-installed officials in Ukraine’s south are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people living on the western bank of the Dnipro River.
Because of a sharp increase in the number of people wishing to leave the city, authorities reported a shortage of vessels to ferry people across the river at one point on Sunday.
“The situation today is difficult,” Russian Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov said in a video message. “It’s vital to save your lives. It won’t be for long. You will definitely return.”
Since Tuesday, about 25,000 people have been evacuated, the Russian-installed deputy head of the region Kirill Stremousov said.
“We again recommend you to leave the city and the western bank of the Dnipro,” Stremousov said in a video message published on Telegram. “We are not going to give up Kherson.”
He also said an improvised explosive device killed one person and wounded another on Sunday.
