Authorities of the Kursk region have made a decision on the forced evacuation of residents of the village of Glushkovo and the adjacent district, the region’s acting governor Alexei Smirnov said.
“Coordination of the process of evacuation of local residents is entrusted to law enforcement agencies, local administration and vigilantes of the Kursk Patriot Center,” Smirnov wrote in his Telegram channel. He called on local residents to “understand” the current situation and “follow all recommendations from law enforcement agencies” and authorities.
Glushkovsky district borders Suzhansky district, which was invaded by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on August 6. Its population as of January 1, 2022 was 17.5 thousand people. In a straight line from the village of Glushkovo to the border with Ukraine is about seven kilometers.
Before that, the authorities of Kursk region announced the evacuation of residents of Suja, Rylsk, Korenev and Bolshesoldatsk districts. All of them, except Bolshesoldatsk, border with Ukraine.
According to Smirnov, by August 12, 28 settlements in Kursk Region were under AFU control, where about 2,000 people remained. 180,000 residents were to be evacuated from the border areas, 121,000 of whom had left their permanent place of residence.
In his turn, AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyy claimed that as of August 12, Ukrainian forces had seized 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory and established control over more than 70 settlements.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimated the Russian territory controlled by the AFU at 800 square kilometers. Military analysts have studied Maxar satellite images and concluded that the Russian army has begun digging trenches and building defensive lines near Lgov, along the Rylsk-Lgov-Kurchatov-Kursk road, which is about 17 kilometers north of where the presence of Ukrainian units was confirmed. This may indicate an expectation of further advance by the AFU, although it has slowed down considerably in recent days, ISW concluded.
On August 9, the Kremlin imposed a counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, handing over the authority to push the AFU into Ukraine to FSB head Aleksandr Bortnikov. Aleksandr Dyumin, a former presidential guard and now secretary of the State Council, was appointed to coordinate the Russian army’s actions in the Kursk region, Z-channels claim.
