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Residents of the border districts of Russia’s Kursk Region, which have been under attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) since yesterday, have begun to evacuate the area, the region's acting governor Alexei Smirnov said in a statement posted on Telegram. According to Smirnov, he spoke with Vladimir Putin during the night and “reported the operational situation.”
“The regional headquarters worked all night. More than 200 people were taken out of the combat zone and from the shelled territories by buses and personal transport. During the day, with our help, several thousand people left the area being shelled by personal transport,” Smirnov said.
Medics from Moscow and St. Petersburg have reportedly arrived in the Kursk Region to help those injured as a result of the shelling. Smirnov also said that all mass events have been canceled across the region.
The AFU offensive in the Kursk Region’s border areas, which began on August 6, appears to be continuing. According to estimates by pro-Russian sources, as of the morning of August 7, the AFU had occupied 11 settlements in the region and had driven about 15 kilometers deep into Russian territory. The width of the bulge created by the Ukrainian advance has been estimated at 10-11 kilometers.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, two missiles and four drones were shot down over the Kursk Region on the night of August 7. The number of casualties reached 28 people. In the afternoon, Smirnov reported that two more missiles had been shot down.
Local Telegram channels have published videos capturing the aftermath of the shelling.
During recent clashes in the Kursk Region, the Russian army lost at least two T-62M tanks and one Ka-52 helicopter, while Ukraine lost several armored vehicles and at least one Buk-M1 SAM system. Photos and videos, geolocated by military experts, provide evidence of the damaged military equipment.
Ukrainian volunteer Serhii Sternenko published a video on Twitter, which he said captured “the first ever aerial drone strike on a helicopter.” According to Sternenko, a Ukrainian FPV drone hit a Russian Mi-28 over the Kursk Region. Russian military blogger Alexei Voevoda, who reportedly has close ties to the Russian Air Force, claimed that the helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing as a result of propeller damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on the defeat of a “Ukrainian diversion and sabotage group” on Tuesday, August 6. Today, the ministry claimed it had managed to “prevent the enemy from advancing deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.” “His [the enemy's] reserves were defeated in the areas of Basovka, Zhuravka, Yunakovka, Belovody, Kiyanitsa, Korchakovka, Novaya Sech, Pavlovka, and Horodyshche in [Ukraine’s] Sumy Region,” the report said.
The Ukrainian authorities have thus far not commented on the operation.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has announced the opening of a criminal case following the actions by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk Region. The charges under the case include terrorism, murder, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, and attempted murder of law enforcement officers, among others.
Reports have indicated that several Russian conscripts were captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the AFU’s incursion into the Kursk Region on August 6.