Kherson: Civilians leave bombarded city behind

Under pressure from Ukrainian troops, pro-Russian leaders have just called for the emergency evacuation of the population. Is it to make way for the Russian army and new battles? kyiv denounces in any case a massive deportation of the Ukrainian population. The team of Luc Lacroix, special correspondent for France Televisions, is on site, in Kherson, exclusively.

The operation is delicate. Lying on stretchers, these patients are transferred to a boat. It’s the only way to leave the city. Faced with the advancing Ukrainians, the Russians asked the civilians to evacuate Kherson. They leave behind them a city in the grip of bombardments.It is the crossing of all dangers. On board, faces are closed, there is the fear of being hit by a shot. On the other side, further from the front, the ferries follow one another, with hundreds of passengers on board. They took what they could and are relieved on arrival. “Where we’re going, there’s no shooting,” said a civilian. There is sometimes the hard realization of having lost everything. “The car, all the business of a lifetime, there is nothing left,” laments a resident. She and her family are convinced of it, for them it is a journey of no return that begins. The house where they spent their lives was bombed.

“The majority of those who leave tell us they support the Russians”

“If we no longer have a house, where should we go back? Our house has completely burned down. Where should we go back?” launch a man. “How can I tell you, we don’t know who to be afraid of anymore. We have been under threat for seven months already. Where are they shooting, who is shooting?” said a woman. Those who don’t know where to go are taken care of by the Russians, they control the area. All are Ukrainian citizens, but it is indeed to Russia that they are being transported. “Of course my homeland is Ukraine. But this departure is temporary,” said another civilian. But the majority of those who leave tell us they support the Russians. “If Kherson is Russian, then we will go back. But if it’s Ukraine, then no,” said a resident. “All the residents we spoke to told us that they had not been forced by the Russian army to leave Kherson. They even told us that there were residents who wanted to stay in the town at all costs. city”, reports Luc Lacroix, special envoy in the areas controlled by the Russians.