Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that civilians should be taken out of Moscow-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine, from where Russian forces have been leading evacuations since mid-October as Kyiv s forces advance/

“Those who live in Kherson should be removed from zones of dangerous fighting,” Putin told young volunteers from the Ukrainian territories in Kherson on Red Square as Moscow celebrated Unity Day.

“The civilian population should not suffer from shelling, an offensive, a counter-offensive or other such things,” the Russian leader said.

Moscow’s authorities in Kherson have said they have helped tens of thousands leave the region and vowed to turn the city of Kherson into a “fortress.”