After Zaporizhia

Russia wants to bring Kursk refugees to Ukraine

Those who can are fleeing the embattled Russian region of Kursk.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Following Ukraine's advance into the Russian region of Kursk, the authorities there want to take refugees to a Russian-occupied area in Ukraine.

The acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, announced on Telegram that he had spoken to the governor of the Zaporizhzhya region about this solution. His counterpart, Yevgeny Balitsky, suggested using the sanatoriums and boarding houses on the Azov Sea to accommodate the evacuees.

"In the coming days, we will put together the first transports to bring people to the emergency shelters in the Zaporizhzhya region," said Smirnov. Russia annexed the Zaporizhzhya region, which belongs to Ukraine, in autumn 2022 and had already appointed the Ukrainian Balitsky as a governor loyal to Moscow. Although Moscow does not control the region completely, it had occupied access to the Sea of Azov in particular, where there are still sanatoriums to this day. The refugees are now to be accommodated there.

The sooner Russia declares its willingness to restore a just peace (...) the sooner the attacks by the Ukrainian defense forces on Russian territory will stop.

Heorhij Tychyj, Sprecher des ukrainischen Außenministeriums

Kiev: Kursk offensive to protect its own citizens
Ukraine has meanwhile announced that it does not want to permanently occupy the areas taken in Russian territory, according to official statements from Kiev. Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need foreign territory, said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhij Tychyj in Kiev. "We want to protect the lives of our people," he said. Ukraine sees its conquests in the Russian region of Kursk only as a kind of bargaining chip for peace negotiations.

A Ukrainian military vehicle takes men in Russian uniform away from the Russian border.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Roman PILIPEY)

Similar to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Monday evening, Tychyi justified the operation, which has been ongoing since Tuesday last week, by saying that it was intended to prevent Russian attacks on the neighboring Ukrainian region of Sumy. It was also intended to disrupt Russian logistics in order to prevent Moscow from deploying additional troops to the eastern Ukrainian combat zone of Donetsk.

Those who can are fleeing the embattled Russian region of Kursk.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Russian refugees in their temporary accommodation

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Thousands of people from the Kursk region brought to safety
"The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace, (...) the sooner the attacks by the Ukrainian defense forces on Russian territory will stop," Tychyj said, according to Ukrainian media. The Ukrainian army is a civilized force and adheres to the rules of warfare and international humanitarian law, he emphasized. Thousands of people were brought to safety by the Russian authorities in the Kursk region. "The targets of the Ukrainian armed forces are the soldiers," said Tychyj.

The Ukrainian army has been attacking the Russian region of Kursk since August 6 and, according to local authorities, has captured 28 villages there. The Ukrainian DeepState project, on the other hand, believes that around 44 towns and villages have been under Kiev's control so far.Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for almost two and a half years and shifted the fight to enemy territory for the first time last week.