Putin says civilians should evacuate Kherson to 'avoid shelling'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday (November 4) that civilians in the Ukrainian region of Kherson - which Russia declared it had annexed in September - must be evacuated from the most dangerous areas of conflict zone there.

Putin made the comments while marking Russia's Day of National Unity in Red Square in central Moscow, adding that the civilian population should "suffer" from military activities taking place in the region, including "offensives" and "counter-offensives".

His comments came after similar calls from Russian-installed officials in Kherson urged the city's remaining residents to evacuate.

In recent days, people from Kherson region - where an evacuation zone was extended by 15 kilometres into the eastern side of the Dnipro River on Tuesday (November 1) - have been seen arriving in northern Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.