Russia evacuates more people amid Ukrainian incursion
Good morning and welcome to our blog on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Russia is evacuating more people from its border regions today, Reuters reported, as Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region continues.
Alexei Smirnov, Kursk’s acting governor, said that the Glushkov district was being evacuated. The district has a population of 20,000.
At least 200,000 people have so far been evacuated from the border regions, according to Russian data, Reuters noted.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said today that its forces had shot down Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region.
Sukhoi-34 bombers also targeted Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region, the Russian ministry said.
In other developments:
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Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, spoke with US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, about the battlefield situation and defence needs, his ministry said on Thursday. Umerov also thanked Austin for “continuous and comprehensive support since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia”, according to a statement on social media.
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Ukraine’s airforce said on Thursday that it shot down all 29 Russia-launched drones over eight Ukrainian regions during an overnight attack, which officials said caused only minor damage. Russia also launched three Kh-59 guided missiles during the attack, the airforce said in a statement.
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On Wednesday, Ukrainian troops said they took more than 100 Russian soldiers prisoner in Kursk. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said they would eventually be part of a prisoner of war swap.
Key events
Russian-American sentenced on treason charges
A Russian court today sentenced a Russian-American, Ksenia Karelina, to 12 years in jail on treason charges, the Interfax news agency said, Reuters reported.
The charge against Karelina was based on a donation of just over $50 she made to a charity supporting Ukraine.
As Ukraine’s Kursk incursion forges on the stakes are rising for both sides
Dan Sabbagh
Nine days into Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, and Kyiv is showing increasing confidence. Two soldiers, speaking off the record by a dusty roadside a few miles from the border, said they expected logistics functions to be brought forward “inside Russia” because supply lines were becoming stretched.
Though it is a fragmentary detail – being more specific would endanger life – it demonstrates that as Ukraine’s forces continue to advance into Kursk oblast, Kyiv is gradually becoming more committed to an incursion that may have begun brightly, but the eventual outcome of which remains profoundly uncertain.
Ukrainian operational security has been relatively tight, and soldiers are not supposed to post military successes on social media except with higher-level permission. But Ukrainian media are now being allowed inside Russia, as demonstrated by a report from the 1 + 1 channel, which is close to the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
It carried a broadcast from Sudzha, five miles inside the border, of Ukrainian soldiers handing out water bottles to the Russian civilians who had chosen not to evacuate. Zelenskiy made the point explicitly later on Wednesday, revealing that as Ukraine’s military campaign expands, Kyiv is being drawn in.
Here are more images of evacuees in Russia.
Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces, told Russian state television that Russian forces had taken back control of the settlement of Martynovka in the Kursk region, Reuters reported.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president’s office, said today that “in the border regions of Russia, including Kursk region, Ukrainians deal exclusively with security-related tasks.”
He added:
Ukraine is not interested in occupying these territories. But it is interested in the actual destruction of many Russian military facilities, pushing the remnants of Russian troops beyond the lines that allow for artillery and ballistic missile strikes on Ukrainian territory, forming a security belt around Ukraine’s borders, and destroying military logistics and infrastructure (including storage bases, training centers, and places where equipment is concentrated).
In the border regions of #Russia, including #Kursk region, Ukrainians deal exclusively with security-related tasks. #Ukraine is not interested in occupying these territories. But it is interested in the actual destruction of many Russian military facilities, pushing the remnants…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) August 15, 2024
Russia’s emergency ministry has declared a federal level emergency in the Belgorod region, Reuters reported.
“The situation in the region remains complex and tense. As a result of terrorist attacks by Ukrainian armed groups in the Belgorod region, residential houses and infrastructure facilities have been damaged, there are dead and injured citizens,” the head of the ministry, Alexander Kurenkov, said today.
Late yesterday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he met with government officials “regarding support for our military actions in the Kursk region.”
“It is crucial that Ukraine fights according to the rules, and that humanitarian needs in that area must be met,” the president said, noting that “today’s report from the head of the Security Service of Ukraine was positive.”
He stressed Kyiv’s need for long-range missiles.
Our Ukrainian drones are working exactly as needed. However, there are things that drones alone cannot achieve, unfortunately.
We need other weapons—missile systems. We continue to work with our partners to secure long-range solutions for Ukraine because these are forward-looking decisions essential for our victory. This must be done. The bolder our partners’ decisions, the less Putin can do.
Today, I held a meeting with government officials—including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada—regarding support for our military actions in the Kursk region. It is crucial that Ukraine fights… pic.twitter.com/L2V9P8iHMn
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 14, 2024
Russia evacuates more people amid Ukrainian incursion
Good morning and welcome to our blog on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Russia is evacuating more people from its border regions today, Reuters reported, as Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region continues.
Alexei Smirnov, Kursk’s acting governor, said that the Glushkov district was being evacuated. The district has a population of 20,000.
At least 200,000 people have so far been evacuated from the border regions, according to Russian data, Reuters noted.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said today that its forces had shot down Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region.
Sukhoi-34 bombers also targeted Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region, the Russian ministry said.
In other developments:
-
Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, spoke with US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, about the battlefield situation and defence needs, his ministry said on Thursday. Umerov also thanked Austin for “continuous and comprehensive support since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia”, according to a statement on social media.
-
Ukraine’s airforce said on Thursday that it shot down all 29 Russia-launched drones over eight Ukrainian regions during an overnight attack, which officials said caused only minor damage. Russia also launched three Kh-59 guided missiles during the attack, the airforce said in a statement.
-
On Wednesday, Ukrainian troops said they took more than 100 Russian soldiers prisoner in Kursk. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said they would eventually be part of a prisoner of war swap.