Russia says over 110,000 evacuated from Kursk border region

ISTANBUL

Russia said early Monday that over 110,000 people have been evacuated from the border region of Kursk amid Kyiv’s offensive since August.

“According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 112,337 people were evacuated (from the Kursk region),” Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova told Argumenty i Fakti newspaper.

She said that just over 12,000 residents of the Kursk region are in temporary accommodation centers, while more than 100,000 moved in with relatives and friends.

Moskalkova added that about 40,000 people either refused to evacuate or have returned to their homes.

She also said 30,415 people, including 7,600 children, are in 960 temporary centers across 65 regions of Russia, many of whom fled shelling in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions two years ago.

Ukraine has not commented on Moskalkova's remarks.

Kyiv's incursion into the Kursk region began on the night of Aug. 5-6, when Ukrainian forces entered near the town of Sudzha, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the incursion as a “large-scale provocation” and an act of “indiscriminate shooting,” calling it a “terrorist attack.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said the aim was to create a “buffer zone” to protect against cross-border attacks from Russia.