Russian-installed Kharkiv region administrator urges full evacuation - TASS

The Russian-installed chief administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Kharkiv region recommended on Saturday that all its inhabitants evacuate to Russia "to save lives", according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency. Vitaly Ganchev said official representatives were ready to provide the refugees with food, heat and medical care, according to TASS.

The Russian-installed chief administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Kharkiv region recommended on Saturday that all its inhabitants evacuate to Russia "to save lives", according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency.

Vitaly Ganchev said official representatives were ready to provide the refugees with food, heat and medical care, according to TASS. The Russian Defence Ministry said it was pulling troops out of Izium and Balakliia - crucial military supply hubs in the Kharkiv region - as Ukraine claimed rapid advances.

Ganchev had said on Friday that civilians were being evacuated from several towns that had come under heavy pressure after Russia's defensive lines were breached. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia's adjoining Belgorod region, said on his Telegram channel that mobile catering and heating points and medical assistance were being provided to the refugees in vehicles queuing to enter Russia at the Logachevka border crossing.

Russian senator Andrey Turchak, a senior official in the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, said a volunteer corps had been deployed to help the refugees, and reported more than 400 vehicles at the border. The RIA news agency cited the Defence Ministry as saying that "artillery crews of the Izium-Balakliia group showed courage and bravery in intense battles with Ukrainian units".

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