“The press secretary of the Russian ruler, Dmytro Peskov, said that the Kremlin had not received evacuation requests from residents of the city of Suja, Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which is currently controlled by Ukrainian troops. Source: Russian publications “Podyem” and “Kommersant” Peskov’s direct speech: “To be honest, this is the first time I have heard about this (about the request to organize a humanitarian corridor for evacuation – ed.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
The press secretary of the Russian ruler, Dmytro Peskov, said that the Kremlin had not received evacuation requests from residents of the city of Suja, Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which is currently controlled by Ukrainian troops.
Source: Russian editions “Podyem” and “Kommersant”
Peskov’s direct speech: “To be honest, this is the first time I’ve heard about this (the request to organize a humanitarian corridor for evacuation – ed.). We haven’t seen it, unfortunately, and we haven’t received anything about it.”
Details: On September 13, Kommersant reported that residents of the Suzhan district of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation appealed to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to open a humanitarian corridor “for the evacuation of civilians” as soon as possible.
The mass media wrote that the residents submitted a list of the names of relatives and friends who are in the territory controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There were 186 people in it, including seven minors. It was reported that the families do not know anything about the fate of most of them.
“Kommersant” writes that the International Committee of the Red Cross stated that it had previously appealed to the Russian and Ukrainian parties with a request to organize negotiations on the topic of a humanitarian corridor, but allegedly did not receive an answer.
Why it matters: On August 6, Ukraine began its operation in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. On the fifth day of the Ukrainian army’s offensive deep into Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi admitted: the Armed Forces of Ukraine pushed the war onto the land of the aggressor.
On August 27, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said that since the beginning of the operation in the Kursk region of Russia, Ukraine captured 594 enemy soldiers and controls more than 100 settlements, or 1,294 square kilometers.
In fact, from the first days of the operation, Ukrainian troops began distributing humanitarian aid to civilians in the city of Suja in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. This was recorded by many mass media. “Ukrainian Pravda” also visited Suja and talked with its residents.
At that time, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk noted that Russian civilians within the specified zone are under the protection of international humanitarian law, which Ukraine fully complies with. The Ministry of Reintegration has opened a 24-hour hotline for residents of the Kursk region who need humanitarian aid or want to evacuate to Ukraine.
Vereshchuk also noted that Ukrainian military forces are planning to: conduct humanitarian operations to support civilians; the opening of humanitarian corridors for their evacuation both to Russia and to Ukraine; admission of international humanitarian organizations for humanitarian response and situation monitoring.
From the first days, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also raised the issue of creating, if necessary, military command posts in the territory of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which was taken under the control of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
It was also reported that Ukraine is ready to provide education to children living in the Kursk region, if the need arises.
For his part, the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, persistently continued to downplay the results of the successful Ukrainian operation in Kurshchyna, trying in every possible way to convince the Russian society that the control of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation over a hundred populated areas in the Russian Federation meant nothing.
On September 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine appealed to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross with a request to join the humanitarian response in those areas of the Kursk region of Russia that are currently under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The press secretary of the head of Russia, Dmytro Peskov, called this call of Ukraine a provocation and added that Russia expects that the UN and the ICRC will not accept these calls from Kyiv.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tykhy, replied that Russia is afraid that international observers will see the real situation in the region.
Read also: Syrsky Raid. How is the offensive of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region progressing and what to expect next
“At least turn on YouTube for us.” UP report from Suji and its suburbs two weeks after the Defense Forces offensive