Russian occupation authorities in Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine’s Kherson region said Tuesday they had left the city, following Moscow’s retreat from the regional capital, because they were under fire from Ukrainian forces.
“Employees of the state administration of Nova Kakhovka, as well as state and municipal institutions have left the city and were relocated to safe locations in the region,” the Moscow-installed authorities said on Telegram.
Nova Kakhovka is on the left bank of the Dnipro River, around 60 kilometres north-east of Kherson, from which Russian troops retreated from last week.
The Russian-backed officials said that after Moscow’s pull-out from Kherson, Nova Kakhovka came under “indiscriminate fire” from the Ukrainian army and that “life in the city is unsafe.”
It also claimed that “thousands of residents” had followed their recommendation to leave the city to “save themselves”, saying Kyiv’s forces will seek “revenge on collaborators.”
The authorities claimed that this did not mean that the city was “abandoned” and that “crews of municipal workers” were working to ensure the “functioning of energy and water supply systems.”
The city lies near the huge Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, captured by Russian forces at the start of their offensive as a strategic facility that supplies Moscow-annexed Crimea.
Ukraine has accused Russian troops of planning to blow up to trigger a devastating floor.
Russian forces said last week that a Ukrainian strike had damaged the dam.
The Russian-appointed head of the occupied part of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said Tuesday that the dam was no longer operating and that there was no need for the electricity it was producing.
