With Russian and Ukrainian forces apparently girding to battle for the city of Kherson, signs of Kremlin rule are disappearing from the city’s streets while the remaining residents, unsure what to believe and afraid of what comes next, are stocking up on food and fuel to survive combat.

Russian soldiers, patrols and checkpoints have suddenly become extremely scarce in the city centre, according to residents reached by phone on Thursday, and most civilians have left.

The Russian tricolour flag, raised over government offices after Moscow’s forces captured Kherson in February, was missing on Thursday from the main regional administrative building and other sites.

“On one hand I was happy to see that, but on the other, I’m worried that it would be anarchy now,” a Kherson resident, Oleksandr — who, like others interviewed, asked that his surname be withheld for his safety — said in a text message.

“So I bought extra stuff as I don’t know whether it would be safe to move around the city in the next days or weeks.”

Kremlin-appointed administrators have relocated to a site 50 miles away — after looting anything of value they could take, residents and Ukrainian officials said.

But Russian troops have not decamped from the area.

New York Times News Service