Ukraine controls 28 settlements; the fate of 2,000 Russians remains unclear.
Acting Kursk Governor Alexey Smirnov reported to Russian President Putin that Ukrainian armed forces are in control of 28 settlements in the Kursk region and the fate of 2,000 people there remains unknown.
According to Tass, during an online meeting with the head of state yesterday (August 12) regarding the situation on the Russian border, Smirnov stated that the situation in the region remains very difficult. "As of today, Ukrainian forces have taken control of 28 settlements, penetrating 12 km deep and 40 km wide into the Kursk region."
Approximately 180,000 residents of Kursk have been ordered to evacuate, and another 121,000 have left their homes in areas near the border with Ukraine.
The official noted that the number of rocket and drone attacks has recently increased. "Approximately 194 rockets and drones were launched toward the Kursk region, and 147 were shot down."
At least 12 Kursk residents have been killed and 121 others injured since Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border raid into the Russian region on August 6. Since then, airstrike warnings have been issued repeatedly in the area.
Smirnov also accused Ukrainian forces of using chemical weapons against a group of workers at the Rosseti power plant in Kursk. However, the group took refuge in a police station and survived the attack.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on August 12 that Ukrainian forces had lost 260 personnel and 31 armored vehicles in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, if we consider the entire period of fighting since August 6, Ukraine has lost 1,610 troops. Additionally, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), a soldier from Ukraine's 80th Air Assault Brigade was captured in the Belovsky district of the Kursk region. The Ukrainian soldier confessed that Kyiv had planned to advance to Kursk and Belgorod to facilitate the signing of a peace treaty with Russia.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Northern Task Force and reserves repelled seven attacks by Ukrainian air assault brigades of the 80th and 82nd in the settlements of Martynovka, Borki, and Korenevo in the Kursk region over the past 24 hours. In the Kauchuk region, Ukrainian mobile units in armored vehicles were stopped while attempting to break into Russian territory.
