Humeniuk: Enemy continues shelling right bank of Kherson region despite evacuation measures
Natalia Humeniuk, the head of the Joint Press Center of the Operational Command South, said this on the air of the nationwide telethon "United News," Ukrinform reports.
"The situation is really complicated. It is complicated by the consequences of the terrorist act organized by the Russians. But we have to understand that even in these conditions the military component does not stop and the shelling continues. The enemy continues to shell the right bank, continues to terrorize civilians even in the face of humanitarian evacuation, and at the same time continues to spread the information that it is the combat work of the Defense Forces that prevents the evacuation of the residents of the left bank. It is clear that the civilized world does not accept such information, everyone sees and realizes that the Defense Forces are not targeting civilians. We know for sure that where there are civilian victims of the flood, our shelling is not taking place," said Humeniuk.
The spokeswoman also said that, tracking the enemy's behavior on the left bank, it can be stated that they began to pull back their units a few days before the attack.
Humeniuk confirmed that the Defense Forces were prepared for such a scenario, as last October the President warned about the enemy mining the Kakhovka HPP.
"One of the elements of the development of events aimed at such a situation was worked out, including in our work and preparation plans. We realized that such a situation could occur and talked about the need to prepare the population as well. But still, it happened quite suddenly. We felt that the enemy was nervous, that the enemy did not know where to expect the counteroffensive and could take the most insane steps, as it happened," said Humeniuk.
She also said that accusing the Defense Forces of blowing up the dam is a classic Russian propaganda technique, so they emphasized this from the very beginning.
Answering a question about the enemy group's position in the temporarily occupied territories, Humeniuk said: "They retreated to different distances, depending on the water spill - from 5 to 15 km they pulled back their positions, but nevertheless did not stop shelling the right bank and directly during the evacuation, and the work of police and rescue teams with the local population, they fired on those areas of Kherson that were flooded."
At the same time, the spokesperson noted that the enemy still has the opportunity to shell the right bank of the Kherson region, but the water is coming, and the Defense Forces are trying to push them back at least 30 km by shelling to prevent artillery attacks.
"Their mortar work has become very complicated, and they felt it on the eve of the tragedy and attacked with mortars very significantly and heavily. Now they still have artillery and MLRS, as well as air bombs. We observe that the enemy's aviation is active from time to time," said Humeniuk.
According to her, no bombings have been recorded so far, but the spokeswoman urged residents of Beryslav district to be careful, evacuate from the coast and take shelter.
"Most likely, the enemy will repeat the use of guided aerial bombs," warned Humeniuk.
As reported, on June 6, Russian troops blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. The hydroelectric power plant cannot be restored. Evacuation of people from the flooded areas continues. A representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, said that the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was a Russian terrorist attack that had been prepared for a long time.
