Departure from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region has become significantly more difficult due to pressure and looting by Russians

The process of the departure of the civilian population from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region has become much more difficult and dangerous.

On January 8, 2026, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, Alexander Prokudin, reported that Russian troops are using methods of intimidation and psychological pressure on people trying to leave the region. Citizens are threatened with reprisals or persecution of relatives, which creates an atmosphere of constant fear and prevents evacuation to territories controlled by Ukraine.

One of the new control tools has become the forced re-registration of private transport. The occupation administration is actively confiscating or blocking civilian cars with Ukrainian license plates, forcing owners to register them under Russian law. This not only limits the mobility of the population, but also becomes an additional filter for identifying patriotic residents. In addition, a sharp increase in the scale of looting has been recorded in the temporarily occupied territories: Russian military personnel openly loot private homes, taking property, household appliances and personal belongings directly to their dugouts or places of permanent deployment.

The situation is worsened by the lack of official humanitarian corridors, which forces people to seek detours through third countries, which significantly increases the cost and length of the journey. Alexander Prokudin emphasized that the regional authorities continue to record all crimes committed by Russia against the civilian population for further transfer of materials to international courts. Residents who manage to escape from the occupation are provided with the necessary medical, psychological and social assistance in transit hubs in the controlled territory.

Let us recall that in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the Russians have invented a new way to put pressure on citizens who refuse Russian passports.

Residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine may be left without heat. This will happen if they do not have a Russian passport.

Russia is also continuing the criminal process of passporting the population in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The next victims of these actions are likely to be people with disabilities.