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Russia trying to 'raise true hell', says Ukrainian Governor

Kyiv: Russian forces are managing to raise true hell in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland despite reports of them taking an operational pause, a regional governor said on Saturday, while the government in Kyiv urged people in Russian-occupied southern areas to evacuate by all possible means" ahead of a Ukrainian offensive.

Deadly Russian shelling was reported in Ukraine's east and south.

The governor of Luhansk, Serhyi Haidai, said Russia launched over 20 artillery, mortar and rocket strikes in the province overnight and its forces were pressing toward the border with neighbouring Donetsk.

We are trying to contain the Russians' armed formations along the entire front line, Haidai wrote on Telegram.

Last week, Russia captured the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, the city of Lysychansk. Analysts predicted Moscow's troops likely would take time to rearm and regroup. But so far, there has been no operational pause announced by the enemy. He is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before, Haidai said. In a later post, he claimed the bombardment of Luhansk was suspended because Ukrainian forces had destroyed ammunition depots and barracks used by the Russians. Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, appealed to residents of Russian-held territories in the south to evacuate so the occupying forces could not use them as human shields during a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

You need to search for a way to leave, because our armed forces are coming to de-occupy," she said. There will be a massive fight. I don't want to scare anyone. Everyone understands all of this anyway. Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Vereshchuk said a civilian evacuation effort was underway for parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. She declined to give details, citing safety considerations. The war's death toll continued to rise.

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