Tens of thousands of people in Ukraine and Russia are on the run after advances by both sides. Ukrainian President Zelenskyj believes important goals have been achieved in the Kursk region, but Russia is advancing in the Donetsk region.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine is achieving its goals with its offensive in the Russian region of Kursk – but Russia is on the advance in the east of its own country. Both countries are responding to the other side’s advances with large-scale evacuations of civilians.
A buffer zone?
Russia confirmed that Ukrainian troops had damaged a third bridge over the Seim River in the Kursk region, which is strategically important for Russian supplies. According to Zelensky, the troops are to create a buffer zone along the border. The offensive is aimed at weakening Russia’s military potential.
Soldiers captured on both sides
Ukraine apparently succeeds time and again in capturing Russian soldiers. Zelensky said that Ukraine’s “exchange fund” had been increased. The country wants to use the captured Russians to achieve the release of its own soldiers from Russian captivity. In the past, there have been repeated exchanges of prisoners.
But Russian special forces also captured a group of 19 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region, according to a report by the state news agency RIA. In addition, on the Russian side, more than 121,000 people were brought to safety from border districts in the region, reported the state news agency Tass, citing the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Map of Ukraine, hatched: areas occupied by Russia
Eastern Ukraine under pressure
Russia, for its part, continued the fight with a nighttime air strike on Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, all eleven drones were destroyed. They were aimed at the capital Kiev, among other places, but also at regions such as Kharkiv, Sumy and Donetsk.
According to official Ukrainian information, the situation for the civilian population is deteriorating particularly in Donetsk. The advance of Russian troops is progressing so quickly that families have to leave the city of Pokrovsk and nearby towns. There are still around 53,000 remaining civilians there, including 4,000 children. The residents only have one or two weeks at most to get to safety, said the head of the Pokrovsk military administration, Serhiy Dobriak.
The city is an important defense point for Ukraine and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region. According to local officials, last week the troops were only ten kilometers from the outskirts of the city. According to experts, the Russian units are slowly but steadily advancing on the city.
Families with children in particular should leave Pokrovsk quickly. Many will take trains to do so.
Russian oil depot has been burning for more than 24 hours
Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian offensive, Moscow has rejected talks with Kiev for the time being. “In view of this escapade, we will not talk at this time,” said Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov on the online service Telegram. The start of possible talks depends “on the situation in the combat zone, including in the Kursk region,” Ushakov stressed.
In southeastern Russia, a large fuel depot has been burning since a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday morning. According to the AFP news agency, the authorities have declared a state of emergency in the city of Proletarsk in the Rostov region. 18 firefighters were injured during the firefighting operations, four of them were taken to hospital with burns, the Tass news agency reported.
