Russia continues evacuations from the border areas, from where it has already relocated 200,000 inhabitants in seven days.
Meanwhile, Kiev claims that Ukrainian forces are penetrating deeper and deeper into Russian territory.
The governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, announced that 20,000 people living in the Glushkov district had been evacuated to safety. According to Russian authorities, more than 200,000 people have so far been evacuated from border areas due to clashes between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.
A state of emergency was declared in both Kursk and the neighboring Belgorod region.
Russian Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov said the situation remains “complicated and tense” in Belgorod as well.
“Many residential buildings and infrastructure facilities were destroyed in the Belgorod region due to terrorist attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces. Several people were killed or injured,” he said.
On August 6, the Ukrainian army carried out the largest attack by a foreign army on Russian territory since World War II. According to Kiev, the battle line stretches about 18 kilometers from the border on Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region advanced one to two kilometers into the interior of Russia.
One Ukrainian official, however, said Kiev had formed a buffer zone to protect its population from attack.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces shot down Ukrainian drones over Russia’s Belgorod region and that its bombers attacked Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.
At the same time, they asserted that the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory would not change the course of the war.
General Apti Alaudinov said 12,000 Ukrainian soldiers had crossed the border.
Western countries repeat that they were not informed about Kiev’s plans to attack Russia. Russian officials do not believe their words.
“Of course they are involved,” said Russian representative Marija Butina.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Ukraine is trying “with the help of its Western masters” to improve its negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks. Moscow is also reporting intense fighting in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that its units have improved their positions on several fronts. The Russian military, which launched the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, controls 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory.
