Kherson occupation authorities send text message calling for residents to leave city

The Russian-installed occupation administration in Ukraine’s Kherson region has sent a text message to all Kherson residents urging them to leave the city to avoid possible shelling from the Ukrainian army.

“Dear citizens! The Ukrainian Armed Forces are going to shell residential areas. [There will be] buses going from the River Port to the Left Bank beginning at 7:00. For info: 88003019999,” read the message, according to RIA Novosti. Residents reportedly received the message on Wednesday morning.

Kherson occupation administration deputy head Kirill Stremousov told RIA Novosti that Ukraine has concentrated forces along the frontline in the Kherson region. “Kherson is turning into a fortress,” he said.

Stremousov also claimed Ukrainian troops will begin an offensive “soon,” and that Kherson and the region’s right-bank section could come under fire. “We have no intention of surrendering the city. We’ll stay to the end,” he told reporters.