Russian forces hold more than 5,000 people in the queue at the checkpoint in Vasylivka, 5 people have died — Mayor

The Russian forces are holding more than 5,000 people in the queue at the checkpoint in Vasylivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast), 5 people have died in line trying to flee the occupation, reported Melitopol Mayor, Ivan Fedorov on the air of Ukrainian news telethon.

The official noted that the road through Vasylivka is the only way out of the occupied territories of Southern Ukraine. All residents who want to get to Zaporizhzhia must pass the Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka.

According to Fedorov, more than 5,000 people in 1,200 cars are now waiting in line in Vasylivka. "There are absolutely terrible things going on when the Rashists (Russian service members, ed.) approach our people and say: "If the seriously ill people want to hold a rally here, we can shoot them right now",'" Melitopol Mayor said.

Mayor says that at the end of last week, the Melitopol authorities, together with the Ukrainian government, appealed to Russia's Defence Ministry with a request to provide a corridor for the evacuation of Ukrainians from the city. According to the Mayor, the Russians rejected this request saying that there were no people willing to leave Melitopol.

The Russians allow 20-150 cars per day (approx. 500 people) to leave the occupied Vasylivka. But the demand for departure is much greater, and the queue in Vasylivka grows every day, the official claims.

Melitopol Mayor believes the Russian forces block the evacuation of Ukrainians from occupation and use people as a "human shield," fearing Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Background

In the first half of July, the Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, called on Ukrainians to leave the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would not endanger the civilian population during the counteroffensive.

The Minister urged people to leave in any direction, even through the occupied Crimea, reminding that approximately 30% of people in the occupied territories do not pass the Russian "filtration" process. If the occupiers consider Ukrainians dangerous, they detain them, and their further fate is often unknown.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claims that Ukrainian troops are likely preparing for a counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast or have already started it as of July 23. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already advancing step by step in Kherson Oblast.