Russian commandos withdrew their units on the left bank of the Dnipro river in Kherson region for 5-15 km after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, but they did not stop shelling Kherson, where civilians are being evacuated, said Natalia Humeniuk, head of the Joint Coordinating Press Center of the Defense Forces of the Operational Command Pivden (South).

"The enemy continues to shell the right bank, continues to terrorize the civilian population even in conditions of humanitarian evacuation and at the same time continues to disperse the information wave regarding the fact that it is the combat work of the defense forces that does not allow the evacuation of residents of villages on the left bank," Humeniuk said on the air of the national telethon on Wednesday.

At the same time, she stressed that the Defense Forces do not conduct fire work on places where civilians are located.

"Tracking the situation with the behavior of the enemy on the left bank, we can state that they are delaying their units. They started their movement a few days before this terrorist attack and we realized that they were preparing [to blow up the dam]," said the representative of the Pivden task force.

According to her, after receiving information about the mining of the hydroelectric dam by the occupiers last year, the scenario of its undermining was worked out and the necessity of preparing for such a development of events was noted, but it still happened "quite suddenly". "We felt that the enemy was nervous, how could he expect this counteroffensive and he could resort to the craziest steps. That's what happened," Humeniuk said.

According to her, the Defense Forces were working to move the occupiers at least 30 km away from Kherson so that they would stop its artillery shelling, but mortar attacks from the occupiers became more frequent. There is also a danger of air strikes.

"They retreated to a different distance, depending on the water spill, from 5 to 15 km, they tightened their positions, but nevertheless they did not stop shelling the right bank and immediately during the evacuation and the work of groups of police and rescuers with the local population, they fired at those areas of Kherson that were burning, and again fired at a shopping center in the very Kherson, perceiving it as a hub where they can raise funds for assistance. That is, they stressed again in the eyes of the whole world that they are absolute terrorists," Humeniuk said.