Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up KIEV, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Ukraine told residents of Russian-annexed Crimea on Monday to prepare bomb shelters and stock up on supplies as Kyiv moves ahead with plans for a major counter-offensive to drive Russian troops out of occupied Ukrainian lands. Ukraine has been telling residents in its occupied south for weeks to be ready and evacuate before a counterattack is launched. But Monday’s warning was notable because it was aimed at residents of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, as opposed to the territories Russia seized in this year’s invasion. The Black Sea peninsula is considered to be out of range of Ukrainian weapons, although several recent explosions at Russian military sites in Crimea have called that into question. Kyiv has refused to take responsibility for the incidents. “We ask residents of the occupied territories, including the Crimean peninsula, to follow the recommendations of (Ukrainian) officials during the dispossession measures,” said adviser to the Ukrainian president Mykhailo Podolyak. “Specifically, to prepare a bomb shelter, stock up on sufficient amounts of water and charge powerbanks. Everything will be Ukraine,” he tweeted. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report by Tom Balmforth. edited by Tomasz Janowski Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
