Russia evacuates border villages in Kursk region

MOSCOW: Russia is evacuating a number of villages in the Kursk region close to the Ukrainian border, the local governor said on Monday, almost six weeks after Ukraine launched its surprise incursion.

Moscow appears to be mounting a counter-offensive in the region, claiming to have retaken at least a dozen villages from Ukraine´s control since last week. Authorities have decided to order the “obligatory evacuation of settlements in the Rylsky and Khomutovsky districts that are within a 15-kms zone adjacent to the border with Ukraine,” Governor Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram.

He did not say which villages would be evacuated or the number of evacuees. There are dozens of villages and towns within this 15-kilometre radius. More than 150,000 people in the region have had to flee their homes since Kyiv´s offensive began on August 6, state media reported Smirnov as saying last week.

Ukraine says its forces have advanced across tens of kilometres of Russian territory and seized dozens of settlements, including the border town of Sudzha. Ukraine´s incursion -- which began more than two years after Russia launched a full-scale military assault on its neighbour -- caught Moscow off-guard. It is the biggest incursion by a foreign army on Russian territory since World War II.