Ukraine's offensive in Kursk: Russia orders further evacuations
So far, over 121,000 people have been evacuated or fled from the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, according to Russian reports. Another 59,000 are still expected to leave the area, said Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the region, in a video conference with Russian President Putin broadcast on television. At least 12 civilians have been killed and 121 injured on the Russian side. 28 settlements with a total population of 2,000 have been occupied by Ukrainian units.
The Ukrainian advance is now also being felt in the neighboring Belgorod region. "For the health and safety of our population, we are starting to move people living in Krasnojaruschski to safer places," said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, on the Telegram messaging service.
After months of withdrawal on the eastern front, Ukrainian forces surprisingly pushed into the Russian border region of Kursk last Tuesday. It was the largest cross-border offensive since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and the most significant by a foreign army since World War II.
The offensive aims to "disrupt the enemy's positions, inflict maximum losses, and destabilize the situation in Russia," a Ukrainian security official told the AFP news agency over the weekend. "Thousands" of Ukrainian soldiers are involved.
The Russian army reported on Sunday that Ukrainian troops had advanced up to 30 kilometers into Russian territory in some places, but that the advance had been stopped at several points and heavy damage had been inflicted on the Ukrainian army. On Monday, the defense ministry in Moscow reported that 18 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed - eleven of them over the Kursk region.
Russian President Putin accused Ukraine of using the offensive to improve its negotiating position in the future. It is now clear why Kyiv has rejected all proposals from Moscow for a "peaceful" settlement, he said at the conference with the governors of the affected areas. The main task of the Russian army is now to "drive the enemy out of our territories." Kyiv wants to "sow discord" in Russian society, but Russia is "united" in helping all those affected.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, citing the Emergency Ministry, more than 44,000 people in the Kursk region have now applied for financial assistance. The Russian railway company is organizing emergency trains for the refugees to the Russian capital Moscow, about 450 kilometers away.
On the Ukrainian side of the border, people are also being moved to safety. Last week, authorities in the Sumy region issued an evacuation order for around 20,000 people. A 70-year-old pensioner praised the Ukrainian offensive at an evacuation center, saying that the Russians don't understand what war is. "Let them taste it," he said.
Meanwhile, there was a brief fire at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Sunday, with both Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other. Russia, Ukraine, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) all reported that there was no increase in radiation levels. On Monday night, a Moscow-appointed official said that the fire had been "fully extinguished."
According to the operator deployed by Russia, the situation at the shut-down nuclear power plant has returned to normal. All six reactors remain in "cold shutdown," the operator reported.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been occupied by Russian soldiers since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine and has been offline since autumn 2022. Recurring incidents and attacks around the facility have intensified fears of a major nuclear accident. Kiev and Moscow continue to blame each other for endangering the safety of the NPP.
On Sunday, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, announced that people living in Krasnojaruschski will be moved to safer places due to the ongoing situation. In response to the Ukrainian advance in the Kursk region, Russian President Putin stated on Sunday that Ukraine is using the offensive to improve its negotiating position in the future.
