Putin: Civilians in Kherson need to be evacuated

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that civilians need to be evacuated from the Moscow-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine, where Russian forces have been evacuating since mid-October.

Putin said on the Day of Moscow’s Unity in Red Square on Friday that the residents of Kherson should be evacuated from the dangerous war zones as soon as possible.

“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” Putin told pro-Kremlin activists.

Moscow authorities have said they have helped tens of thousands of people leave the region so far and have vowed to turn Kherson into a “fortress.” Kiev, however, has accused Russia of forced deportations of civilians out of the territory, a war crime, which Russia denies.

Putin also said on Friday that Russia’s confrontation with the “neo-Nazi regime” in Kiev was inevitable.

Xi, Scholz warn against nuclear threats in Ukraine

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have censured any threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Scholz warned on Friday that Russia risks “crossing a line” in the international community by resorting to nuclear power.

In his first trip to China since the pandemic, Schulz pressed Xi Jinping to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine, saying Beijing is a major world power that has responsibility.

Xi stressed that both leaders “jointly oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.”

SS