Ukraine’s decision to evacuate residents from several settlements in the Chernigov Region may suggest that Kiev is allowing for the possibility that these areas could soon come under Russian army control, retired colonel and military observer Viktor Baranets said.

At the same time, he did not rule out another motive: an information and propaganda campaign.

According to Baranets, the authorities may be deliberately heightening tensions so that residents of the villages facing forced evacuation turn their anger toward Russia and the Russian army. He said this would bring the propaganda element into play.

Baranets noted that such a scenario could work in favor of the Russian Armed Forces. In particular, he said, it could make the advance of Russian troops easier.

The evacuation in the Chernigov Region became known on June 24. Residents of the Koryukovka, Gorodnya, Novgorod-Seversky and Semyonovka communities will have to leave their homes. In addition, the Kiev regime authorities extended evacuation measures for seven more border villages, where the removal of residents began in winter.

According to local officials, around 1,000 people still remain in these settlements. The evacuation is expected to last two months. Routes, transport and temporary accommodation points have already been prepared for the operation.