Evacuation ordered in border region amid Ukrainian attack
The acting governor of Russia’s Kursk Region, which shares a border with Ukraine, has ordered an evacuation from one of the region’s districts in light of the incursion carried out by Kiev’s forces last week.
Aleksey Smirnov took to Telegram on Monday to announce that transportation will be provided for the residents of the Belovsky district to leave the area.
Belovsky is one of 28 districts in the region and has a population of about 14,500.
The head of Belovsky, Nikolay Volobuev, said on Sunday that Ukrainian armed groups had entered the district. He also said that the situation was “tense” and called on residents to leave.
Clashes in the border areas of Kursk Region have been ongoing since the incursion began last Tuesday. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry declared a federal emergency in the region, while the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) launched counterterrorism measures.
The Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday that over 76,000 people had already been moved away from the region’s border areas.
According to Smirnov, the Ukrainian army has been attempting to impede civilian evacuation efforts by “firing at civilians and ambulances.”
Over the weekend, a Ukrainian missile hit a nine-story apartment building in the city of Kursk. According to the local authorities, at least 15 people were injured, two seriously.
Moscow called Kiev’s incursion a large-scale provocation and accused Ukrainian troops of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in the region. The Russian military said last week that it had been able to halt the advance of Kiev’s forces and had been pushing the remaining Ukrainian troops back towards the border.
