Ukraine urges civilians to leave liberated areas as cold weather sets in

The Ukrainian government will provide transportation, accommodation and medical care, the deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Ukrainian soldiers fire an artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region (AP/Libkos)

Ukrainian authorities have started evacuating civilians from the recently-liberated areas of the Kherson region and the neighbouring Mykolaiv province, fearing that damage to infrastructure is too severe for people to endure in the coming winter.

Residents of the two southern regions, which have been regularly shelled in the past months by Russian forces, have been advised to move to safer areas in the central and western parts of the country, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.