Russia evacuates tens of thousands of people from Kursk border region
More than 76,000 people have been temporarily accommodated in safe locations, the state news agency TASS quoted a representative of the regional Emergency Ministry as saying. Additional trains were deployed to the capital Moscow for the evacuees, and aid supplies were brought to the border region. "The war has come to us," a woman said upon her arrival at Moscow's train station.
Kyiv had remained silent about the advance for several days, but on Saturday evening, Zelensky finally said that Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky had "reported on the front, our actions, and the shift of the war onto the territory of the aggressor." The Ukraine, Zelensky said in his evening address, was proving that it could "achieve justice and put pressure on the aggressor," and he thanked the participating soldiers.
Since the start of their offensive on Tuesday, the Ukrainian army has reportedly advanced several dozen kilometers into the Kursk region, according to independent observers.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities announced the start of anti-terror operations in the three border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk. Security forces and the army will have wide-ranging powers, including restrictions on civilian movement, vehicle confiscation, phone tapping, and access restrictions to certain areas.
The Anti-Terrorism Committee stated that the Ukraine had launched an "unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in several regions of our country."
The Moscow Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it was using aircraft and artillery to combat the Ukrainian military on Russian territory. The Russian General Staff had initially reported that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers, a dozen tanks, and about 20 other armored vehicles had entered the Kursk region. On Saturday, the Russian military reported that it had destroyed five times the amount of Ukrainian military equipment.
According to Russian authorities, five people were killed and 55 others injured in the fighting in Kursk on Tuesday. No newer figures were available.
The Ukraine said it had evacuated 20,000 people from the Sumy region bordering Kursk. In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, three people were reportedly killed on Saturday, according to authorities.
Belarus, allied with Russia, announced that it was reinforcing its units at the Ukrainian border. To prepare for "any possible provocation," additional troops and missiles were being sent to the southern Gomel border region, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram online service message.
The Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom warned that the risk of attacks by the Ukrainian army on the Kursk nuclear power plant was "real." "The actions of the Ukrainian army pose a direct threat," Rosatom stated, according to state media.
The Kursk NPP is located near the city of Kursk, about a hundred kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, had also warned of the danger and called on "all parties to exercise maximum restraint" to avoid a nuclear accident.
The evacuees were transported to safer locations using additional trains deployed to Moscow. To maintain security in the border regions, Russian authorities have implemented vehicle confiscation and movement restrictions.
