After Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory earlier this week, Moscow is making efforts to evacuate its citizens and send them humanitarian aid.
Russia evacuated citizens from the Kursk region on Friday following a large-scale incursion by Ukraine on the country which invaded it in 2022.
Russia declared a “federal-level” emergency in the region on Friday – four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured across the border in what appeared to be the largest attack by Kyiv on Russian soil since the conflict began.
Moscow’s military and border guards have blocked Ukrainian forces from pushing deeper into the country, according to a Russian ministry statement.
It also said that Ukrainian fighters attempting to advance into the area from Ukraine’s Sumy region were being attacked.
According to Russia, Ukrainian advances in the border area were stopped about 500 kilometres southwest of Moscow. However, military bloggers and open source data indicates Ukrainian troops have made gains in several areas in Kursk.
The fighting in Kursk has received considerable attention by Russian media. Much of the coverage concerned the humanitarian situation – children being taken to shelters on buses as well as people from other Russian regions gathered food, diapers and other supplies to be sent to Kursk.
Twenty temproary shelters housing over 1,200 people were reportedly organised in Kursk. More shelters are to open as people continue to flee the fighting.
Kursk regional authorities reported on Wednesday that at least five civilians were killed. Russia’s Health Minister said 66 civilians, including nine children, have been wounded in the region in three days of fighting.
Also on Friday, Russian troops shelled a supermarket in the Kostiantyvnivka region of Ukraine, causing a fire to break out. Reports indicate at least 12 were killed and 44 wounded as a result of the shelling.
Vadym Filashkin, Donetsk’s regional military administration head, said that there were 50 people inside the store at the time of the attack.
Filashkin described it as a targeted attack on a crowded place and another “act of terror” by Russian forces.