Russia has announced it will evacuate tens of thousands of people from the Kursk region.Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces have invaded, has its acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, who said on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday that he had instructed the head of the Belovsky district, southwest of Kursk, to “speed up the implementation of evacuation orders.” Local officials detailed the scale of civilian evacuations from towns and villages close to the fighting zone. “More than 76,000 people have been temporarily moved to safer places,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted a regional emergency affairs ministry official as saying at a press conference.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that Ukrainian forces are fighting in Russia’s Kursk region. He also said the operation was part of Kyiv’s efforts to restore justice after Russia’s aggression in 2022. The Ukrainian president had remained silent about the operation until now. In a speech on Saturday night, the president said he had discussed the operation with Ukrainian Armed Forces Supreme Commander Oleksandr Shirsky, “and our actions and pushing the war into the territory of the aggressor.” Thanking the soldiers who took part in the operation, the president added that “Ukraine has proven that it is really capable of bringing justice and ensuring exactly the necessary pressure – pressure on the aggressors.”
Debris from a destroyed Ukrainian-launched missile fell on a nine-story residential building in the city of Kursk, injuring at least 13 people.“The building’s residents will be evacuated to temporary accommodation,” Kursk Mayor Igor Kutsak said. He added that an air raid warning had been issued throughout the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that on the fifth day of the Kursk offensive it had thwarted a further Ukrainian advance.Reporter Dan Sabbagh reported. The fighting is said to be taking place in three villages – Ivashkovskoye, Malaya Loknya and Olgovka – 7 to 11 miles from the international border, similar to areas where Ukrainian forces are believed to have previously advanced. Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB, has imposed a “counterterrorism” posture in Kursk and two neighbouring regions, Bryansk and Belgorod, giving authorities broad powers to seal off the area and control communications.
Russia’s atomic energy agency warned Saturday of a direct threat to the Kursk nuclear power plant, which is less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the fighting zone.“The actions of the Ukrainian armed forces pose a direct threat to the Kursk nuclear power plant in western Russia,” state news agency quoted nuclear energy company Rosatom as saying. There is no evidence that Ukrainian forces are threatening the plant. The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Friday for “maximum restraint.”
There were reports that a substation in the Kursk region had been attacked, causing localized power outages. Acting Governor Alexei Smirnov said on Friday that a fire had broken out at an electricity substation hit by wreckage from a Ukrainian drone, adding that power outages had occurred in frontline areas including the Kurchatov region, home to a nuclear power plant.
Belarus sent additional troops to strengthen its border with Ukraine on Saturday. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said a Ukrainian drone violated its airspace during Kiev’s invasion of the Kursk region. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires and demanded measures to prevent such incidents from happening again, suggesting that if they do, Belarus would prompt Kiev to consider whether its diplomatic presence in Minsk is “appropriate.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukrainian naval forces and military intelligence have attacked and damaged a former offshore gas platform used by Russian forces in the Black Sea, a navy spokesman said on Saturday. He posted a nighttime video showing an explosion and then a fire on the offshore platform. He said the Russian military had deployed equipment and personnel to the platform half a day before the attack. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Three people were killed in two Russian military attacks on Ukraine’s eastern frontline regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv, local authorities said on Saturday. A Russian missile attack on the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region killed one civilian and injured several, the local governor announced.
One civilian was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Russian city of Lipetsk, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) from the Ukrainian border.“The Russian air defense systems intercepted 19 Ukrainian drones overnight,” the region’s government said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday. Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov said Russian air defense systems had intercepted 19 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Meanwhile, on the front line, Ukraine reported on Saturday the lowest number of “hostile acts” on its territory since June 10.This could be a sign that the Russian advance is helping to relieve pressure on other parts of the vast front along which Moscow’s forces have been advancing.
Russia launched air strikes on Kiev but its air defenses repelled the attacks, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and military officials said early Sunday.“Air defense units are active and air alert remains in place,” Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. It was not immediately clear whether the attack caused any damage or injuries.
Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Saturday to “strengthen Ukraine’s spiritual independence.” This suggests the country’s leadership is moving to effectively ban branches of the Orthodox Church with ties to Moscow. The number of autocephaly church members loyal to the Kyiv Patriarchate has surged since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But a minority church with ties to Moscow has maintained influence, and Ukrainian leaders have accused it of aiding the invasion and trying to sour public opinion.
