Stringer / EPA
Evacuado Civil of the Kursk Border at the region’s railway station invaded by Ukraine in August.
Ukraine’s surprise offensive in the Russian region was a catastrophe for the population, which is divided between Moscow’s narrative to praise the Russian army and discreet criticism of Putin for starting the war.
The raid of Ukraine in the Russian territory of Kursk in August 2024, becoming a military vexation for Kremlin. For seven months, in the middle of the War led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian troops maintained the control of parts of the region, including the city of Sudzha.
The long impasse has caused a humanitarian catastrophe For thousands of locals, still subject to a war of information. On April 26, A, but hours later, the Ukrainian army refuted the statement, classifying it as an “propaganda maneuver.”
“It is not yet clear whether we are safe or not. We have no peace because there are still drones… We live in fear, one day at a time“He told DW Marina, who had to leave his home with his family after the Ukrainian invasion. Thousands of inhabitants of the region did the same and sought refuge in places further from the front line.
Life under Ukrainian control
Anastasia and her family left Sudzha on the first day of the foray. The city is just 10 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. In addition to many smaller villages, Sudzha was the only city truly captured by Ukraine. The Russian military resumed control in March this year.
Most of the inhabitants fled and the city has watched some of the most violent combat since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Intense bombing left the place in ruins, with mines spread across the streets.
Some residents of the city, such as Anastasia’s uncle, chose to stay.
“Either it died or was killed, I don’t know for sure,” said Anastasia, who doesn’t even know if her uncle had a funeral. So far she and her family could not return to Sudzha.
Both Russian and state -owned media reported cases of theft in the Kursk region. Some inhabitants told DW that their cars were stolen. Russia accused the Ukrainian military of “committing Crimes of War”In the region, but did not have evidence.
“All we know about this is that Ukraine’s Armed Forces always try to resolve humanitarian issues related to local civilians, regardless of their citizenship,” he told DW Pavel Luzin, a researcher at Tufts University Law and Diplomacy, Tufts.
In the case of Russian troops, there are reports of war crimes committed systematically, as, according to the UN International Independent Inquiry Commission on Ukraine. In January, the UN estimated that more than 12,300 Ukrainian civilians had been killed since the beginning of the invasion in 2022.
Population feels abandoned by the state
Despite the perception of Kursk’s inhabitants that there is a lack of support from the government, the Russian state media have portrayed the unfolding of the humanitarian crisis since last summer as a moment of union of Russians to help the needy.
Some refugees confirmed to DW that they were receiving state support, but others said that Kremlin had neglected the people displaced in Kursk and did not fulfill their promises.
“They talk and promise more than they do. Reality is different,” said Nadezhda, another inhabitant of the city of Kursk. Russian authorities, however, do not accept these criticisms.
“I have the impression that, before 2022, they lived on an uninhabited island that had no roads, hospitals, schools where it was not the government that paid your pension, and it came out of nowhere,” said Alexander Khinshtein, the current governor of the Kursk region, during a meeting with inhabitants at the end of last year.
Views
Among the residents of Kursk heard, many blamed the Ukrainian army for bringing misery and destruction to their land and praised the Russian soldiers for their “liberation,” but some discreetly expressed their disagreement and blamed Putin for starting war.
Many believe in the version of Russian state media that there is no war in Ukrainebut only a military operation designed to protect the safety of Russia.
“People say ‘thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovitch [Putin]for starting a special military operation in Ukraine; otherwise there would be a war [na Rússia]’”He told DW Vitaliy, Kursk’s inhabitant who fled from the region.“ Many have not realized where the evil root is really and who brought death to their homes, ”he added.
Since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, supporting pro-Russian rebels in Lugansk and Donetsk and the large-scale invasion in 2022, there are now millions of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation.
“Poor and unhappy, they are not guilty, just as we are now not,” said Marina. “I pity them and us too. We are ordinary people. We didn’t want this bloodshed. ”
There are still those who do not want to discuss the issue at all. “I don’t want to feel anything about Ukrainians. I just want to hang up from this and live my life,” said Nadezhda, another resident of Kursk.
Is there a way back home?
Although Russia has recovered the region’s control, drones, bombing and sirens persist in the daily life of some Kursk locations, especially in the areas near the Ukraine border.
According to the Russian authorities, At least 191 civilians died in the region Since Ukraine launched its foray last August. The Independent Russian media Agentstvo and 7 × 7 identified 70 civilian deaths. The Russian Interior Ministry states that About 2,000 people remain missing in the region.
Many Kursk inhabitants confirmed to DW that their homes were destroyed. Others, who want to return, have no idea what they will find. Most refugees cannot yet return home for security reasons.
“We would like [voltar a Sudzha]if there is something to go back, ”said Anastasia.
