Ukraine controls 28 residential areas, fate of 2,000 Russians unknown
Acting Governor of Kursk Alexey Smirnov reported to Russian President Putin that Ukrainian armed forces are in control of 28 residential areas in the Kursk region and the fate of 2,000 people there remains unknown.
According to Tass, during an online meeting on the situation on the Russian border with the country's head yesterday (August 12), Mr. Smirnov said that the situation in the region remains very difficult. "As of today, Ukrainian troops have taken control of 28 residential areas, penetrating the Kursk region to a depth of 12 km and a width of 40 km."
About 180,000 Kursk residents 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 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks has increased recently. "About 194 rockets and UAVs were launched at the Kursk region, 147 of which were shot down."
At least 12 Kursk residents have been killed and 121 others injured since the Ukrainian military launched a cross-border raid into the Russian enclave on August 6. Air strikes have been repeatedly warned in the area since then.
Mr. 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 Defense Ministry announced on August 12 that Ukrainian forces had lost 260 people and 31 armored vehicles in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, if counting the entire fighting time since August 6, Ukraine has lost 1,610 soldiers. In addition, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), a soldier of Ukraine's 80th Air Assault Brigade was captured in the Belovsky district of the Kursk region. The Ukrainian soldier said that Kiev planned to advance to Kursk and Belgorod to facilitate the signing of a peace treaty with Russia.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Northern Task Force and its reserve forces repelled seven attacks by groups of the Ukrainian 80th and 82nd Air Assault Brigades in the settlements of Martynovka, Borki and Korenevo in the Kursk region over the past 24 hours. In the Kauchuk area, Ukrainian mobile groups on armored vehicles were stopped when they tried to break into Russian territory.
