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Ukraine updates: Kursk governor calls for quicker evacuation – DW – 08/11/2024

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Skip next section Kursk governor calls for accelerated evacuation

August 11, 2024

Kursk governor calls for accelerated evacuation

The acting governor of Kursk oblast in Russia, Alexei Smirnov, said on Saturday night that he had “instructed” the head of the Belovsky district of the region — in southwestern Kursk, near the border to the Sumy region of Ukraine — to “speed up” the implementation of orders to evacuate civilians. 

A tent camp set up by the Russian Emergencies Ministry for evacuees from the border areas of the Kursk region, image originally from TASS.
Authorities declared a state of emergency in Kursk and called on people to leave some border areasImage: Vladimir Gerdo/TASS/picture alliance

Russian authorities have been scrambling to relocate people this week amid a surprise Ukrainian incursion into parts of Kursk. Russia’s government has also been keen to describe the incursion as an escalation.

Although Ukrainian forces are not thought to control any of the territory, they appear to have established a disruptive presence that stretches quite far into the area, at least based on what analysts can observe via satellite.  

Russian media, including the state-owned TASS news agency, on Saturday quoted the region’s emergency situations ministry as saying that “more than 76,000 people” had been “temporarily relocated to safe places.” 

Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyev and Igor Shchegolev (L-R middle), Presidential Envoy to Rusia's Central Federal District, talk to the media at the Zvonkiye Golosa children's camp that accommodates children evacuees from the Kursk Region exposed to Ukrainian military strikes. Image originally from TASS.
Russian regional governors Andrei Vorobyov and Igor Shchogolev spoke to reporters in Russia about relocation efforts at a camp accomodating children on SaturdayImage: Sofya Sandurskaya/TASS/picture alliance

Russia also said on Friday that it was sending additional military equipment and personnel to the area over the weekend. 

Russia sends reinforcements to counter Ukrainian attack

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https://p.dw.com/p/4jKr6

Skip next section Air defense systems in Kyiv active overnight

August 11, 2024

Air defense systems in Kyiv active overnight

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and military administration officials said early on Sunday that air defenses were operating in Ukraine’s capital overnight. 

“Air defense units operating, air raid alert continues,” Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

Witnesses in Kyiv said they heard explosions, though these sounds could have been air defense systems at work rather than hits. 

It was not immediately clear if the attack had caused any damage or injuries. 

The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said the capital was still threatened by Russian ballistic missiles. 

Ukraine’s air force said Kyiv, the surrounding region and all of eastern Ukraine were subject to air raid alerts.

msh/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA)

https://p.dw.com/p/4jKr7

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