MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Russian troops continue to hold back attempts by Ukraine’s armed forces to break through the defenses on the right bank in Kherson. There is a risk the territory may be flooded, the first deputy speaker of the Federation Council, secretary of the United Russia party’s General Council Andrey Turchak, said on Friday.
"Evacuation from the Kherson Region to our other regions is necessary in order to ensure maximum safety for our people. Our forces on the right bank in Kherson continue to hold back attempts by Ukraine’s armed forces to break through the defenses. There is also a risk the territory may be flooded," Turchak wrote in his Telegram channel.
"It is important for the population to leave the Kherson Region for a while. So that our troops can fight the Ukrainian neo-Nazis at full strength and eliminate them while avoiding civilian casualties," he added.
Turchak stressed that the United Russia’s humanitarian mission volunteers in the Kherson Region would help the local residents move to other regions of Russia, where they will be provided with temporary housing and jobs.
"At the moment, a group of our State Duma members has already arrived in the region. They have been operating in Donbass since the very first days of the special military operation. They will help the residents with logistics and address other technical issues," Turchak wrote.
Earlier, the Kherson Region’s deputy governor, Kirill Stremousov, said that Kiev had plans for damaging the Kakhovka dam in order to flood part of the Kherson Region. Should the dam be blown up, the Ukrainian forces would try to cross the Dnieper and approach Kherson. Stremousov said the region’s authorities were recommending the local population to agree to move to other regions of Russia to give the army more room for maneuver while cleaning up the territory of Ukrainian forces.