Russia evacuates towns in Kursk over Ukrainian attacks

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Russia has evacuated 76,000 people from Kursk as Ukrainian forces continue to hold a swath of the Russian border region in a major blow to Vladimir Putin.
Fighting continued on Saturday around the small town of Sudzha, 80 miles south-west of Kursk city, as Moscow’s forces tried to repel the biggest attack on Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The priority area of the operational headquarters’ work is the resettlement of residents of these areas to safe places,” said a spokesman for Russia’s Emergency Ministry.
Russia’s FSB also imposed a “counter-terrorism operation” on Kursk and two neighbouring Russian regions, which strips away basic rights and deepens the security service’s grip over local infrastructure and society.
Kremlin officials also confirmed that a state of emergency has been declared in the Kursk region’s border area and evacuation buses have been sent from Moscow.
By Saturday evening, Russian military bloggers were reporting that Ukraine’s advance in the Kursk region had halted and that its soldiers were bringing up multiple rocket launcher systems and tanks to reinforce their positions.
The Two Majors Telegram channel reported that the town of Sudzha, which holds important Russian pipeline infrastructure, was now split between the two armies.
“The western outskirts are under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the central part of the city is in the grey zone, and the eastern part is under the control of the Russian Armed Forces,” it said.
Ukrainian forces have captured roughly 350 sq km of Russia since Tuesday in a surprise attack that has angered Putin, embarrassed the Russian military and shocked the Kremlin’s propaganda outlets.
The Kremlin has ordered its media to play down the Ukrainian attack. 
Two people working for Russian state propaganda outlets told Meduza, a Russian opposition media news website, that the Kremlin had sent “urgent” instructions on how to report the Ukrainian incursion.
This included playing down talk of a “new front”, avoiding reporting on Ukrainian military successes and ignoring their potential advance towards the town of Kurchatov, home to the Kursk Nuclear Power station.
Newspaper stories focused on the endurance of ordinary Russians caught up in the fighting rather than military losses, but there were hints of disquiet in state publications.
“In general, the whole story of the breakthrough into the Kursk region resembles a psychological operation,” wrote the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, breaking its usual editorial policy of ignoring military defeats.
A columnist for its Moscow rival, Moskovskij Komsomolets, went further, describing the Ukrainian military as a “strong adversary” who had caught the Russian military off-guard.
“Everyone makes mistakes anyway. What matters is how these mistakes are corrected, how strong moves by the enemy are neutralised,” he said.
Even the Kremlin mouthpieces that dominate Russian TV appeared unnerved.
Military strategist, Mikhail Khodaryonok, pondered aloud on primetime TV “How could this happen? How?” and analyst Andrei Chadayev wrote on his Telegram channel that the Ukrainian attack had given the Russian military “a deafening slap in the face”.
Julia Davis, a US analyst who monitors Russian media, said that this level of panic was unusual.“Even Russia’s state TV propagandists can’t hide their alarm at Ukraine’s remarkable cross-border incursion into Kursk,” she said.
By Saturday, Russian media was also reporting that the Kremlin was rushing tanks and soldiers from across Russia, including conscripts, to the Kursk border region to repel the Ukrainian attack.The ‘People of Baikal’ newspaper in Irkutsk, Siberia, reported that relatives of several conscripts had been told that they were heading to Kursk after their three-month-long “fighter course”.“They will go to the border territories to replace the conscripts from the autumn conscription,” the newspaper reported.
The deployment of conscripts into combat is controversial in Russia because conscription is seen by the Russian public as a rite of passage for young men, rather than a military commitment. Conscripts are legally only allowed to defend Russia and haven’t, officially at least, been sent into Ukraine.On Friday Russian Telegram channels had speculated that the Kursk nuclear power station was Ukraine’s military objective after a drone attack hit the plant and knocked out the power supply for several hours.This has now been discounted but Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called for “maximum restraint” to prevent a disaster at the nuclear plant.
Today’s live coverage has ended. Here’s a roundup of the day’s events: 
Moscow residents on Saturday told Agence France-Presse, a French news agency, that they backed the Kremlin’s decision to introduce a ‘counter-terror operation’ in several border areas following Ukraine’s ongoing cross-border incursion in the Kursk region. 
During counter-terror operations, Russian authorities can commandeer vehicles, close towns and cities, introduce checkpoints, listen in on phone calls and announce no-go areas.
“We have to take all the steps that are possible in such a situation,” said Alexander Ilyin, a 42-year-old architect.
“God willing, this is one of the steps” that will help, he added, saying that there was still “a lot of work, a lot of action ahead”.
Others thought the government should have announced the measures sooner. 
“It was introduced too late. It should have been put in right away,” said a man named Denis, who declined to give his surname.
The Kremlin plans to send Siberian conscripts to the Kursk region of southern Russia to potentially fight Ukrainian soldiers, Russian media has reported. 
The ‘People of Baikal’ news website quoted relatives of several conscripts from the Irkutsk region, Siberia, as saying that their sons and nephews had been told that they were heading to Kursk after their three-month-long ‘fighter course’. 
“They will go to the border territories to replace the conscripts from the autumn conscription,” the website, which opposes Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, reported.
Officially, the Kremlin is not allowed to deploy conscripts to fight on foreign soil but it is permitted to deploy them to fight in Russia.
The Kremlin has been reinforcing its borders with conscripts over the past couple of years, and opposition Russian media has reported that several have been killed or captured since Ukraine began a cross-border assault into Kursk on Tuesday. 
Belarus has sent more troops to reinforce its border with Ukraine, the country’s defence minister has announced. 
“Considering the situation in Ukraine and in the Kursk region of Russia, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has given orders to reinforce troops in the Gomel and Mozyr tactical areas in order to respond to such provocations,” Viktor Khrenin said.
“Special operations forces, ground troops and rocket forces, including Polonez and Iskander systems, have been tasked with deploying to the designated areas,” he added. 
The move comes after Belarus accused Ukraine of violating its airspace. 
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday morning that his military had destroyed “about a dozen” targets overnight in the country’s eastern Mogilev region. 
“We suspect these were attack drones. They violated the airspace of Belarus and flew from Ukraine,” he added. 
Footage circulating on social media reportedly shows Ukrainian troops posing with Ukrainian and Georgian flags in the Russian village of Poroz, which is in the Belgorod region and around 2 miles from the Ukrainian border. 
While the footage could not be independently verified, Russian military bloggers said the settlement had come under attack from Ukrainian forces. 
Rybar, an influential pro-Russian Telegram channel, said Ukrainian troops recorded a video in Poroz before capturing two local residents and then “hastily retreating”. 
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said that the situation was being investigated and that access to Poroz village was closed. 
BREAKING:The Ukrainian Army has crossed into the Russian Belgorod region too.The 252nd Battalion has taken control of the village of Poroz, sending a message to the world.Subtitles by @wartranslated pic.twitter.com/qZJJ123AlG
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak hugs his wife at a train station in Kyiv after returning home following his gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics. 
Mr Khyzhniak defeated Nurbek Oralbay of Kazakhstan 3:2 in the Olympic boxing middleweight final at Stade Roland-Garros on Wednesday. 
Voldymyr Zelensky congratulated the boxer immediately after his triumph. The Ukrainian president wrote on social media: “Another gold medal for Ukraine at the Olympics in Paris!
“Boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak has won first place. Thank you for your strength, your confidence, and for this important victory!”
The UK has warned Iran against sending ballistic missiles to Russia, amid reports that Tehran is to deliver hundreds of Fath-360 systems to Moscow to be used against Ukraine. 
A British government spokesman said that Iran “must not proceed” with the planned transfer of the weapons and expressed deep concern at reports that Russian military personnel were being trained on their use inside the Islamic republic. 
Reuters reported on Friday that dozens of Moscow’s troops are receiving instruction on the weapons in Iran, with deliveries of the missiles to Russia expected imminently. 
A US National Security Council spokesman said that the move “would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. 
The Fath-360 is a close-range satellite-guided tactical ballistic missile that can be fitted with a 150kg warhead. It is believed Russia could use the missiles to hit closer-range targets, which would free up Moscow’s arsenal of longer-range weapons to strike deep into Ukraine. 
The UN has said that July was the deadliest month for Ukraine civilians since October 2022. 
At least 219 civilians were killed and 1,018 injured across the country during the month, the organisation said in a report published on Friday. 
“The high number of casualties in July continues a trend of increasing civilian casualties since March 2024,” it added. 
The UN highlighted a spate of Russian attacks on Kyiv, Dnipro and Dnipropetrovsk on July 8 that killed at least 43 people, including 5 children. 
Ukrainian forces stormed across the border into the Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack and have advanced several miles into Russia, according to independent analysts.
Russia claimed on Saturday to have stalled the Ukrainian incursion. 
Moscow’s troops have prevented Ukrainian forces from advancing further into the Kursk region, the Russian defence ministry said. 
Ground troops, artillery and air strikes stopped Ukrainian attempts to break through near the settlements of Ivashkovskoye, Malaya Loknya and Olgovka, the ministry added. 
It went on to say that its air and missile forces struck Kyiv’s reserve troops in Ukraine’s Sumy region, and claimed it had destroyed 1,120 Ukrainian troops and 140 vehicles since the start of Ukraine’s shock cross-border incursion on Tuesday. 
Russian military bloggers said that Ukraine was not giving up on attempts to break through but that the situation had “stabilised”. 
Ukraine has not yet admitted to the incursion into Russian territory, but said on Thursday that the “root cause” of any escalation in the conflict was Moscow’s “unequivocal aggression”. 
The Belarusian military destroyed several targets over its airspace on Friday that were launched from Ukraine, the country’s state owned news agency has reported. 
“At 19:04 at an altitude of 1.5km and a range of 6.5km, the air defense forces destroyed several targets over the territory of Belarus. The search for what was destroyed is underway,” the Belarusian Telegraph Agency said, citing president Alexander Lukashenko.
“We suspect these were attack drones,” Mr Lukashenko added. 
The Belarusian president said the incident occurred near the Kostyukovichi district and praised his military’s cooperation with Russian air defence forces. 
Belarus earlier said that it put its air forces on high alert due to the alleged Ukrainian airspace violation (see our post at 10.14am).
Two children who were killed in a Russian missile attack on Kostiantynivka on Friday have been identified, Ukrainian authorities said. 
Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said that the children were two girls aged 9 and 11. At least 14 people were reported to have been killed in the strike, and 43 others injured. 
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, condemned the attack in a post on social media and called for more military support to be sent to Ukraine. 
He wrote: “Russia again targeted Ukrainian civilians, attacking a busy shopping centre in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region. We support accountability for this and other Russian war crimes. 
“Ukraine needs more military support now to protect its cities, civilians and infrastructure.”
Russia has introduced ‘counter-terrorism’ measures in three regions bordering Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s incursion into the Kursk area. 
In a statement, the Russian National Antiterrorism Committee said the move was ordered to “ensure the safety of citizens and stop the threat of terrorist acts”. 
Russian law enforcement agencies will have their “hands untied” to use “extreme measures” in the event of Ukrainian sabotage, prominent pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar said. 
Ukrainian forces stormed across the border into the Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack and have advanced several miles into Russia, according to independent analysts.
Moscow has deployed extra troops and equipment in response, though neither side has given precise details on the extent of the forces they have committed.
Three people were killed in two Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, local officials said on Saturday. 
One civilian was killed and several others were injured in a Russian missile strike on the town of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, the local governor said.
“This morning, the Russians hit a critical infrastructure facility in the city with a missile,” Vadym Filashkin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
He said the facility was seriously damaged, without clarifying what it was.
In an attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, two people were killed and another wounded when Russia shelled a private house, police said.
The Belarusian air force was put on high alert on Friday after an alleged Ukrainian violation of Belarus’ airspace, the country’s president said. 
“At 18:10 yesterday the Belarusian Air Forces were put on high alert. We call it number one readiness,” Alexander Lukashenko said. 
He went on to say that the incident occurred in the Kostyukovichi district of the country and that air defence ground troops equipped with multiple launch rocket systems were also put on high readiness. 
“The air defense forces were put on full alert to intercept the targets. There were about a dozen of them. Jets and a helicopter were scrambled,” Mr Lukashenko added.