Russia Expands Call for Civilians to Relocate in South

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians in the occupied southern region of Kherson are being forced from their homes, the Ukrainian military and activists warned on Tuesday, as Russian proxy leaders expanded the area from which civilians should leave and Moscow’s troops rushed to fortify defensive positions.

Ahead of a possible battle for control of the key region, the Ukrainian military said that the widening calls by occupation officials for people to leave the area were part of a campaign to terrorize and forcibly deport tens of thousands of civilians from the west bank of the Dnipro River.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ukrainian military high command said that Russian forces had “set up technical fortifications” and mines or explosives around civilian housing in the Kherson region, most likely to use as defensive positions for a looming battle.

The Ukrainian claims could not be independently verified. But residents in Kherson who were contacted by phone, and accounts of those who have fled to Ukrainian-controlled territory, have described intimidation and repression as the Russian military’s position has grown more precarious amid the steady advance of Ukrainian troops in the south.

“They intimidate people and make them evacuate,” a Kherson resident named Tetiana, 60, said in a text message on Tuesday, asking that her surname not be used for her safety. She said she has refused to leave her apartment in Kherson despite pressure from proxy officials to “go to the so called ‘safe regions of Russia.’”

Then, she added, “Russian soldiers take the houses of those who left and loot everything.”

Ukraine has said that the relocations — which Russian proxies have claimed are an effort to evacuate civilians for their safety — have been a cover to force people to territory east of the river that is more firmly under Moscow’s control and then, in some instances, to occupied Crimea and ultimately Russia.

A little over a week ago, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson, said tens of thousands of people should evacuate the regional capital. Just six days later, he claimed that effort was complete, although Ukrainian officials said that only a few thousand people had left, most of them loyal to Russia. Mr. Saldo also issued a pointed warning that all those who remain could be considered hostile.

On Tuesday, Mr. Saldo expanded the area civilians should leave to all towns, villages and cities within 10 miles of the river, possibly indicating the line Russia would defend to try to keep hold of both the city of Kherson and the critically important dam in Kakhovka, about 40 miles upriver to the northeast, which feeds fresh water to Crimea.

Inside the city of Kherson, residents said the situation grew more dire by the day. A woman named Katerina, 38, wrote in a text message over the weekend that they could hear “fighting on the outskirts of the city.”

“The city is empty,” she wrote. “As if it were dying. But we are alive. We keep on and wait. To meet the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Ukrainian officials have said that they believe the Kremlin will not give up Kherson — the only regional capital it conquered in the war — without a fight, no matter the cost.

Russian tanks are still positioned on high ground at Dudchany and Piatykhatky, two villages around 70 miles northeast of the city of Kherson, according to Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front. Every time Ukrainians seek to advance, they are met with a furious response, the soldiers say.

But analysts say the Ukrainian drive toward the city from the south is drawing closer. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research group, said the front line there was now roughly 25 miles from the city.

Satellite imagery captured last week indicated that Russian forces had abandoned their positions at the Kherson regional airport, about seven miles outside the city. Local proxies said Russian forces had begun engineering defensive positions in Bilozerka and Chornobaivka, also on the city’s outskirts.

Anna Lukinova and Oleksandr Chubko contributed reporting.