Families forced to leave their homes in Russia’s Kursk region due to Ukraine’s cross-border offensive wept on television after being evacuated to Crimea, which is regularly hit by Ukrainian drones and missiles.
Hundreds of evacuees from Ukraine’s counteroffensive inside Russia have been sent to the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The displaced people are reportedly being paid to move to Crimea as Moscow’s forces try to repel Ukrainian advances in Kursk, despite regular Ukrainian warnings that it is unsafe for Russians to travel to the peninsula due to the ongoing war.
Ukraine earlier today hit the peninsula with several heavy attacks near the £3bn Kerch Bridge that links Crimea to the Russian mainland.
Displaced people are being housed in vacant tourist complexes and sanatoriums where there is still space, as the regular summer tourists are being chased away.
Families forced to leave their homes in Russia’s Kursk region due to Ukraine’s cross-border offensive cried on television as they learned they were being evacuated to Crimea
The displaced people are reportedly being paid to move to Crimea as Moscow’s troops try to repel the Ukrainian advance in Kursk.
A Ukrainian tank passes a burning car near the Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, August 14, 2024
A handout photo provided by the press service of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry shows evacuated people from the Belgorod and Kursk regions arriving at temporary reception points in Nevinnomyssk in Stavropolsky Kray, Russia
War refugees receive humanitarian aid at a Russian Red Cross distribution point in Kursk on August 15, 2024
An evacuee, Maria, told Russian state television that she had been taken from her village of Peschanoye in the Belovsky district to the city of Kursk, an area at risk of a Ukrainian invasion.
Officials told her to go to Crimea, ‘because there are constant rocket attacks’ [in Kursk] and it’s very scary’.
Another evacuee, Svetlana, from Bolshesoldatsky district, said: ‘They started reporting a missile threat more and more often, it was very scary.
Then they found out that Sudzha [being under siege]and drones started flying.
‘They gathered us all and took us to Kursk [city]where we lived in a temporary shelter.
‘And the day before yesterday they called and offered to take us to Crimea. Thank God they gave us a cash payment, they helped us a lot.’
Svetlana, who went to Crimea with her two children and her elderly mother, said with tears in her eyes that she was worried that they would not have time to collect winter clothes.
“We only have what we stand on,” she said.
‘That’s what we were able to leave in. We really hope that we won’t need them here in Crimea.
“We believe we will be home again before it gets cold.”
She said, “Let’s just take it easy and calm down for a while.”
Evacuated people from Belgorod and Kursk regions arrive at temporary reception centers in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropolsky region, Russia
Evacuated people in the Kursk region stand in line to fill out the humanitarian aid form at a humanitarian aid distribution center in Kursk, Russia, Wednesday, August 14, 2024
A Ukrainian military vehicle drives past a burning car on a road near the border with Russia, in the Sumy region of Ukraine, on August 14, 2024
In this photo, taken from a video released by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday, August 16, 2024, a Russian soldier fires a Rapira anti-tank gun in the border area of the Kursk region, Russia.
Ukraine has explicitly warned Russians not to travel to Crimea, which Putin annexed from Kiev in 2014.
In May 2023, amid rising tensions and increased military activity, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said: “The best recommendation to the citizens of the Russian Federation is not to visit occupied Crimea and the Black Sea coast.
“You’re not welcome there. There’s a big war going on.”
Zelensky himself pointed out the risks for the people of Crimea, which the authorities in Kiev want to retake after the annexation in 2014.
“I call on everyone in Crimea and other occupied territories to stay as far away as possible from military facilities and infrastructure used by the Russian military,” he said.
“Do not stay near Russian military facilities and facilities that support their actions. If you are in Crimea, stay away from military bases and airfields.”
