The Defense Forces have warned about the risk of increased shelling by Russia over the New Year holidays.
The Defense Forces warned the Ukrainians that during the New Year holidays the invaders may intensify shelling of the territory of Ukraine. First of all, residents of front-line zones should be vigilant, therefore, for their own safety, they should leave other regions.
If the residents of the front-line territory do not have the opportunity to leave, the military recommends that under no circumstances should they ignore air raid signals.
“I do not want to scare anyone, but it is necessary to be aware of this danger,” Natalya Gumenyu, spokesperson of the Southern Defense Forces, addressed the Ukrainians.
Danger for the Kherson region
In addition, there is a version that the Russian army has not used Kalibr launch vehicles based in the Black Sea for a long time. Therefore, it is during the New Year holidays that the invaders can launch strikes from both tactical and strategic flights.
“Since we see that tactical aviation is experiencing difficulties in its use, air-launched missiles of both tactical and strategic aviation can be used,” said Gumenyuk.
According to him, enemy air attacks are usually directed mainly at civilian infrastructure. For example, in December, these attacks led to damage to port infrastructure, grain warehouses and residential buildings.
“It is very common that the enemy often attacks civilian medical institutions, particularly in Kherson. This is a big priority, especially in the Kherson region – this is a mandatory program for the occupiers,” the spokesman said.
According to him, in order to destroy hospitals and educational institutions in the Kherson region, Russia is not even saving valuable missiles.
Forced evacuation option
As for the situation in the Kharkov region, it is impossible to convince residents to voluntarily leave their homes, said the head of the region, Oleg Sinegubov. At the same time, he reports heavy fighting in the Kupyansky district and if the situation escalates in some settlements, forced evacuation may be announced.
“We are monitoring this situation in order to make prompt decisions on possible evacuation… We have developed transport and infrastructure routes. And if necessary, if the situation worsens in that direction, we will announce evacuation measures not only in the settlements located across the Oskol River, but also the left bank is the so-called Dooskolye. And there were about 9 thousand people there. If we take the city of Kupyansk, then it is about 3-4 thousand. Well, the communities are included in this direction,” said Sinegubov.
At the same time, according to him, people who are now voluntarily evacuating usually go to Kharkov and immediately ask: when they can go home.
Limited departure from Avdeevka
The evacuation situation is similar in front-line Avdeevka, Donetsk region. As the head of the military administration of the city of Avdeevka, Vitaly Barabash, noted, the shelling situation in the city is getting worse every day, but the locals definitely refuse to leave.
On the morning of December 20, 1,220 people remained in Avdeevka. The previous day, due to heavy shelling by the Russians, the evacuation of civilians had to be cancelled. It is precisely because of the fear of being shelled while leaving the city that most people refuse to evacuate, Barabash believes.
“This fear works in our absence, in our absence in the context of persuasion to leave the city,” he said.
According to the official, it was very difficult for the evacuation teams to encourage the people.
“When they seemed to have gathered, and we said to them, “Sorry, we can’t let you out, because it’s too hot today.” So, three of the people who were willing to go the day before. (December 18) refused. So, yesterday instead of eight people, five were taken out,” Barabash said.
Locals in Avdeevka spend most of their time in the basements of their houses and keep themselves warm, including with belly stoves. When the Russians see smoke coming from the chimneys, they deliberately fly drones to investigate. And then they attack civilians with guided bombs or fire with cannon artillery, Barabash said.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.