Dozens of residents from Russia’s Kursk region have returned home from Ukraine following what Moscow described as rare and “painstaking” negotiations between the two nations.
The incursion follows Ukraine’s surprise August offensive into Kursk, the country’s first major operation on Russian soil since February 2022, when hostilities began. Forces temporarily captured several settlements, including the border town of Sudzha in the Sudzhansky district, according to local governor Alexei Smirnov. Kyiv did not comment on why the residents have been sent to Ukraine.
Russian human rights ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova announced, “Today, 46 residents of the Kursk region returned to Russia from Ukraine as a result of a negotiation process with the Ukrainian side.” Smirnov added that the group, which included 12 children, was returned through Belarus and provided with “all necessary assistance.”
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Reunited among them was three-year-old Darina, whose mother, Anastasia Gridina, had been working temporarily in Moscow. Darina was staying with her grandmother in the village of Lebedevka when the offensive by Ukraine began. Speaking to AFP, Gridina said, “They are already on the way. In four hours I will meet Darina.” She had reportedly sought aid “everywhere,” so much so that she even wrote a personal letter to President Vladimir Putin.
The incident illustrates how scant areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia remain, including an exchange of civilians, soldiers, and the remains of fallen fighters, in this case, even though Russian forces had been waging full-scale invasion since last spring.