In early April, some residents of Kharkiv received a series of chilling text messages from government officials telling them to flee the city before Russian forces surrounded it.
"Due to the threat of enemy encirclement, we urge the civilian population of Kharkiv leave the city by April 22," said one alert, which bore the logo of the State Emergencies Service of Ukraine and mapped out safe escape routes on a slick infographic.
It was fake. Volodymyr Tymoshko knew immediately. He's the police Chief of Kharkiv region and would have been one of the first to find out about any official evacuation plans.
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