Breakthrough deal: Ukraine allows Russian civilians to flee occupied Kursk

Russia has struck a deal with Ukraine and the Red Cross to evacuate residents from the embattled Kursk region, parts of which have been seized by Ukraine, Russia's rights commissioner said Monday.

Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border assault on the Russian region more than six months ago, capturing dozens of villages and trapping many Russian civilians on the opposite side of the front line.

Some residents have now crossed into Ukraine's neighbouring Sumy region and are awaiting evacuation via Belarus, Russian rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said.

"There are people who are already in Sumy today. And there is an agreement with the Red Cross and the Ukrainian side that they will be evacuated through Belarus to Russia," Moskalkova said, according to Russia's RIA news agency.

Moskalkova did not say how many Kursk residents would be evacuated under the agreement.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the group was supporting evacuated civilians in the Sumy region, without confirming the agreement.

"For repatriation operations like these, it's up to the parties to the conflict to agree on the details directly," Ukraine-based spokesperson Pat Griffiths told AFP.

"Should both parties agree on those details, we stand ready to support the safe and dignified passage of those civilians who wish to return to Russia."

An official missing persons list compiled by Russian authorities initially recorded only about 500 people unaccounted for in the Ukrainian-occupied zone, but local residents say the number is close to 3,000.

Ukraine says thousands of its own civilians are being held in areas seized and occupied by Moscow since its assault began on February 24, 2022, and that it is providing safe passage to Russians in the Kursk region.

AFP

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