The authorities urge Kherson residents not to rush to return home — in addition to mines, there may be landmines

The Secretary of the NSDC Oleksiy Danilov called on citizens not to hurry to return to the de-occupied areas of the Kherson region, because there are still risks for the civilian population.

The Defense Forces of Ukraine liberated 179 settlements covering more than 4.5 thousand km² on the right bank of the Dnipro during the week.

"Every square km should be investigated, to understand that there are no explosive devices there. This is a difficult job. In order to preserve the lives of our civilian population, there is a great request to take your time to return home. Everyone who wants to will definitely return, but for now we have to wait a little while," the secretary of the NSDC noted.

He emphasized that treacherous Russian troops carried out large-scale mines before retreating. "Moreover, we do not rule out that landmines are still on this territory," Danilov added.

All relevant services are working around the clock to speed up stabilization processes: "As soon as we understand that the situation is safe there, the civilian population will be allowed to return."

• Ukrainian military entered Kherson on November 11. Before that, the Russians announced that they were withdrawing troops from the right bank of the Dnipro River and Kherson itself. The fleeing occupiers blew up all the bridges across the Dnipro, boiler houses, communication towers and the television center in Kherson. The city was completely cut off by the Russians. Communication and Ukrainian radio have already been returned there. Currently, the military is clearing Kherson from the occupiers and looking for collaborators.