Evacuations continue in the Kursk region on Thursday, August 15, as Ukrainian forces continue to advance into Russian territory. The governor of the region, where more than 120,000 people had already been evacuated in recent days, announced on the night of Wednesday to Thursday the evacuation of an additional district, that of Glushkovsky. At least 12 civilians have been killed and more than a hundred injured since the start of the Ukrainian offensive, according to local authorities. Follow our live stream.
State of emergency declared in Russian region of Belgorod. The decision was taken following Ukrainian shelling in the area, which is adjacent to the Kursk region. Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several homes were damaged during the night by Ukrainian strikes. The evacuation of 11,000 people was announced in the region on Monday evening.
kyiv wants to create a buffer zone in the Kursk region. Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko explained that Ukraine is seeking to create this zone to protect its border population from Russian bombing. Ukraine also wants to open humanitarian corridors to facilitate the evacuation of civilians.
Moscow says it is repelling Ukrainian attacks. The Russian military said on Wednesday that it had “pushed back” Ukrainian attacks aimed at “penetrate deep” in the border territory of Kursk. Russian forces, supported by aviation, drones and artillery, “thwarted attempts by enemy mobile groups to penetrate deep into Russian territory” and inflicted heavy losses on the Ukrainians, the army assures.