No evacuation from Kharkiv planned, residents from oblast being evacuated to city

There are no plans to evacuate the population or certain groups of residents from the city of Kharkiv as of 15 May. On the contrary, people are currently coming to the city from those settlements in Kharkiv Oblast where active hostilities are taking place.

Source: Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov; Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group, on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote from Terekhov: "The air-raid warning had been in place for over 8 hours, but we have made it through the night in peace. There have been strikes on residential areas over the past 24 hours. The enemy is using intimidation tactics to make people leave the city.

However, we are not considering the evacuation of Kharkiv at the moment. On the contrary, we are receiving people in Kharkiv from areas experiencing active hostilities."

Details: The official noted that over 6,000 people have arrived in the city, and they are being housed in student accommodations and provided with "everything possible to make them feel more or less protected."

Nazar Voloshyn said that the city of Kharkiv is protected at the moment.

"Kharkiv is really well defended, but the enemy is doing everything to sow fear and panic among the civilian population," Voloshyn explained. 

Terekhov stressed that the city has enough warm clothes and other necessities for the evacuees, but there is a problem with the power supply.

"We have no power generation as of today due to the attacks on 23 March, when all our thermal power plants and transformer substations had been destroyed. Naturally, this is why rolling blackouts are in place for both businesses and residential buildings. The situation is tense," Terekhov concluded.

Background:

• On 10 May, it was reported that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with fighting taking place there.
• During a briefing with Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian troops had launched a new wave of offensive operations on the Kharkiv front.
• Ukraine's Defence Ministry reported that reserve units had been sent to the north of Kharkiv Oblast.
• Russian forces have captured up to 10 villages in Kharkiv Oblast. The Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group said that the grey zone in Kharkiv Oblast was not expanding and that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were not letting Russian forces advance further into Kharkiv Oblast.
• Amid the Russian offensive in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast, the United States announced an additional military aid package to Ukraine later this week.
• UK Defence Intelligence believes it is unlikely that Russia has built up sufficient combat power to capture Kharkiv without bringing additional forces to the area.

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