About 133,000 people have so far left their homes due to the Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, the region’s acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, said during a video conference with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
According to the state news agency TASS, nearly 20,000 people are still in the eight districts where evacuations have been ordered, citing Smirnov.
“I urge you to pay special attention to preparations for the new school year,” Putin ordered, holding a meeting in Moscow on the situation in Kursk.
Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said students at 114 schools in the border region would be taught online from September 2. Others would be taught at their evacuation sites or in children’s holiday camps.
Putin’s response to the invasion
After the Ukrainian advance that began on August 6, Putin ordered his security forces to expel the Ukrainians from Russia. However, the Russian counter-action has been slow to get going.
According to observers, the plans for schools to start in September can be seen as evidence that Russian leaders do not expect a quick victory over Ukrainian troops.
Russian news site Meduza, citing sources close to the Kremlin, reported that Moscow is less concerned about a quick recapture: After the initial shock, it was important to get the Russian population used to what officials called a “new normal”: the presence of attacking foreign troops, which would inevitably be driven out again, Meduza said.
Russian officials said Thursday that reinforced concrete structures are being installed at bus stops in the Kursk region to better protect civilians from the shelling.
Governor Smirnov said on his Telegram channel that there are plans to strengthen 60 bus stops in the city of Kursk.
Similar structures will also be installed in two other cities in the region. Earlier, bus stops in nearby border areas were reinforced with sandbags and concrete blocks, officials said.
For the first time in nearly two and a half years of the large-scale Russian war, Ukraine is fighting ground battles on enemy territory. Recently, Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Olexander Syrskyi said that more than 1,260 square kilometers and 93 villages had been captured, but military observers estimate that the area actually controlled by Ukraine is slightly smaller.
Putin accuses Ukraine of attempted nuclear attack without evidence
Putin on Thursday accused Ukraine of an attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant, without providing evidence.
“The enemy attempted to attack the nuclear power plant today,” Putin said in Moscow, according to TASS.
The nuclear power plant in the city of Kurchatov is located about 30 kilometers from the furthest Ukrainian advance.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been notified, Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.
He said he would visit the site next week to assess the situation.
“Military activities near a nuclear power plant pose a serious risk to nuclear safety and security,” he added.
After the Ukrainian advance began, the IAEA warned that the safety of nuclear power plants must not be compromised. The same applies to Kursk as to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, the IAEA said.
Ferry catches fire in Russian city of Krasnodar
A ferry loaded with fuel tanks has caught fire in a port in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region following Ukrainian shelling, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.
According to the district administration, there were a total of 30 fuel tanks on board the rail ferry.
“At the moment, 17 crew members have been rescued,” Krasnodar Region Governor Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on his Telegram channel. The search for two missing people continues, he added.
The port of Kavkaz in the Krasnodar region is located on the other side of the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. There was a missile alert in Crimea at the same time.
Russian troops advance towards Toretsk
The Ukrainian military acknowledged on Thursday that the town of Niu-York has fallen victim to the Russian advance in the east, while the besieged city of Toretsk is now in even greater danger.
Niu-York’s status has changed in the situation report released Thursday by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The city is no longer considered disputed, suggesting it has fallen prey to the Russian advance into Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Ukrainian war bloggers and Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov reported on Wednesday that Russian forces have taken full control of Niu-York.
The industrial city of Toretsk, which has long been the target of fierce Russian attacks, is now in even greater danger.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that fighting continues in Pivnichne and Zalizne, two towns east of Toretsk, as well as in the city itself.
Drone attack causes fire at Russian military base
A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at a military base in southern Russia overnight, the regional governor said on Thursday.
Volgograd Region Governor Andrey Bocharov said air defenses had stopped most of the unmanned aircraft, but a downed drone had caused the fire.
In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that 28 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted overnight, 13 of which were over the Volgograd region alone.
