Ukraine: Russia stopping Kherson residents leaving

Ukrainian authorities accused Russia on Monday of restricting Kherson residents from leaving the region.

Deputy head of the Kherson Regional Council Serhii Khlan said "the occupiers actually blocked the ability to exit (from the Kherson region)."

Khlan added that Russian forces are conducting a census of men aged 18 to 35 and that the Russians have started talking about "volunteer mobilisation units."

"People on the uncontrolled territory have a clear pro-Ukrainian position. If they take up arms, they will not be used precisely against our armed forces of Ukraine, " Khlan said.

A Russian-installed official in the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, said in a video statement on Monday morning that the Ukrainian forces “have broken through a little deeper.”

However, he insisted that “everything is under control” and that Russia’s “defense system is working” in the region.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no final decision has been made yet on the territories of the two – Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – of the four regions incorporated into Russia.