An established local leader in Russia says thousands of civilians and Russian-appointed officials are being evacuated from Ukraine's southern Kherson region ahead of a Ukrainian offensive.
Vladimir Saldo said that all departments and ministries appointed by Russia will cross the Dnieper River.
He previously said that some 50-60,000 civilians would also move into "organised, gradual displacement".
Ukraine has called on residents to ignore the Russian move.
The head of the regional administration of Kherson said that Russia wants to take civilians hostage and use them as human shields. The transfer or deportation of civilians by the occupying power from the occupied territory is considered a war crime.
In a separate development, Russia's Vladimir Putin said he had signed a decree imposing martial law on four Ukrainian territories, including Kherson, which Moscow revoked last month in a move that was deemed illegal by the international community. was rejected.
He told Russia's Security Council that it would give regional leaders additional powers to maintain social order and protect vital facilities.
On Tuesday night, residents of Kherson began receiving text messages urging them to evacuate immediately to avoid shelling of residential areas by Ukrainian forces.
The messages said that from 07:00 on Wednesday transport across the Dnipro River would be available.
"They have been asked to evacuate because rogue Ukrainians are about to besiege the city," a resident told the BBC, who asked to remain anonymous.
"People are panicking because of the hype."
Russian TV footage showed a large gathering of people on the west bank of the Dnieper on Wednesday. As they were queuing for the boats, it was not clear how many were leaving.
But Ukrainian officials have questioned whether the large numbers of people were actually being evacuated, suggesting that the images of a crowd gathered by the river are meant to show the mass.
Serhi Khalan, an aide to the deposed chief of the Kherson region, suggested that the "exile theater" could serve as cover for a much larger Russian move: a complete military evacuation from the west bank of the river.
"I look forward to the withdrawal of troops," he said, adding that he expected Russian forces to attempt to destroy the city once they left.
Russia, he said, was planning to establish a new capital for the Kherson region in Henichesk, closer to the Crimean peninsula, adding that banks and offices related to the Kherson occupation had already been evacuated.
One Kherson resident told the BBC's World Service she was not going anywhere until Kherson was liberated by Ukrainian troops: "People are panicking, no one wants to be evacuated."
She said Russian soldiers were now worried about how they could survive in the city. "There are a lot of them; they dress up as civilians. We can see them - they are different from the Kherson people. They move in groups, they have short hair, they are mainly dressed in black. Huh."
Ukrainian officials have warned that this could represent the beginning of forced deportations to Russia.
In early September, the United Nations said there were already credible allegations of forced deportation of Ukrainian children from other Russian-occupied territories. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, called the allegations "baseless".
President Putin has also announced to increase the security level inside Russia.
As part of the decree, President Putin announced three additional levels of security inside Russia.
The highest level applies to Crimea associated with Russia and other regions near the border with Ukraine, such as the regions of Belgorod, Kursk and Krasnodar.
In these areas, more security, possible evacuation orders and some restrictions on travel will be imposed. More powers would be given to regional authorities to implement measures, establish regional defense, and "mobilize" the economy for the war effort.
In Moscow and the surrounding central and southern regions, regional authorities have the power to impose similar, but less severe, sanctions.
Ukraine said it recently occupied more than 400 square kilometers in less than a week
It has been less than a month since Russia held a ceremony to annex Kherson: "Reality can hurt if you live in an imaginary fantasy world," Mykhailo Podolik, adviser to Ukraine's president, said.
Late on Monday, Russia's new military commander in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, described the situation in the regional capital of Kherson as difficult.
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