Vereshchuk urges residents of Kherson region to leave through occupied Crimea

Kateryna Tyshchenko – Monday, 20 June 2022, 23:02

Iryna Vereshchuk, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, has called on residents of the occupied Kherson region to leave the oblast using routes approved by the Russians, in particular through occupied Crimea.

Source: Iryna Vereshchuk at a briefing at the Media Centre Ukraine; Ukrinform

Details: The Deputy Prime Minister stated that residents of the Kherson region, especially those who have children, should not turn down the opportunities to leave provided by the aggressors. This will speed up the liberation of the region by the Ukrainian army.

Quote: "Please leave, because our army will definitely liberate these lands. We are determined to do so. And then it will be incredibly hard to open a humanitarian corridor if there are children there… We will know that children are there, and we will be powerless, and we really don't want that to happen. Trust me, liberation will come very fast. A counteroffensive is surely coming."

More details: Iryna Vereshchuk also called on residents to use the "fake" documents issued by the aggressors to leave for temporarily occupied Crimea. She assured people that the Ukrainian authorities would not penalise them for such actions.

Quote: "They will not be breaking the law if they leave through temporarily occupied Crimea. We know that it is now practically the only humanitarian corridor –  if you can call it that – that will let you leave. So if you can, please leave, especially if you have children with you.

As soon as you enter the territory of third countries - whether EU or other countries - contact any consulate or find some other opportunity to call us. All countries will let you in, even without any documents. If necessary, we will prepare the documents and send them to the consulate where you are."

Background: Hennadii Lahuta, the head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, said on 20 June that between 450,000 and 500,000 citizens are still in the occupied territory of the oblast.

According to him, at present there are two ways to leave the occupied Kherson region: to go to temporarily occupied Crimea or to go through occupied Melitopol-Vasylivka towards Zaporizhzhia.