UK Defence Ministry: Over 70,000 people leave Ukraine's Kherson

On October 27, 2022, the Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine's occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that more than 70,000 people had now left Kherson city.

On October 26, 2022, Saldo also claimed that Russia had removed the remains of the well-known 18th-century Russian statesman, Prince Grigory Potemkin, from his tomb in Kherson's cathedral to the east of the Dnipro, Caliber.Az reports citing UK’s Defence Ministry's latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.

In the Russian national identity, Potemkin is heavily associated with the Russian conquest of Ukrainian lands in the 18th century and highlights the weight Putin almost certainly places on the perceived historical justification for the invasion. This symbolic removal of Potemkin and the civilian exodus likely pre-empt Russian intent to expedite withdrawal from the area, the intelligence update says.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 29 October 2022

Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/YeQYn5GxVm

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/KnwzTUXx7e

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) October 29, 2022