Russia Returns 33 Displaced Kursk Residents From Ukraine

Thirty-three civilians from southwestern Russia’s Kursk region have returned home from Ukraine following negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Monday.

“Most of them are elderly, but there are also four children,” Moskalkova wrote on Telegram. “Many have serious injuries and illnesses.”

She credited the International Committee of the Red Cross and Belarus for aiding negotiations and highlighted support from Russian government agencies and special services in facilitating the return.

Moskalkova previously accused Ukrainian forces of forcibly relocating more than 1,000 Kursk residents since their August incursion, which displaced over 152,000 people.

On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, Moskalkova said Moscow had struck a deal with Kyiv and the Red Cross to evacuate an undisclosed number of Kursk residents from Ukraine via Belarus.

Acting Kursk region Governor Alexander Khinshtein said the youngest evacuee on Monday was under 2 years old, while the oldest was 89. He added that nine of the returnees would be hospitalized, while the rest would reunite with their families later on Tuesday.

An official missing persons list compiled by Russian authorities initially recorded around 500 people unaccounted for in the Ukrainian-controlled area, but local residents estimate the number is closer to 3,000.

Ukraine, which has thousands of its own civilians held in Russian-occupied territory since the February 2022 invasion, says it is providing safe passage to Russians in the Kursk region.