2024-08-19 04:59:35
In the Russian city of Kursk, famous in military history for the battle fought during the Second World War, Russians fleeing from the advancing Ukrainian troops are now trying to rest a bit, writes the AFP agency in a report from the administrative center of the Kursk region.
Nina Goliňaeva speaks in a strangled voice and has difficulty finishing sentences. She fled from the city of Suja, which was captured by the Ukrainians. The city is located about ten kilometers north of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
“I was terribly afraid. Shells were coming from all sides and helicopters and fighter jets were flying over the house,” says this woman with red hair. “In the evening I saw (Russian) soldiers marching down the street. They told me that I should ‘evacuate quickly or they will kill us,'” she says.
Just like her, dozens of other people of various ages who left their homes in the border area arrived at the temporary refugee hostel.
After months of retreating on the eastern front to encroaching Russian forces, Ukraine took the fight to the aggressor’s turf when it launched an unprecedentedly large-scale offensive in the Kursk region on August 6. Kiev claims to have seized dozens of villages, leading to the evacuation of tens of thousands of Russians, who headed mainly for Kursk. The city itself has been spared combat so far, but from time to time it is attacked by drones in bombing raids.
“We were leaving and cars were on fire, drone wreckage and grenade fragments were everywhere,” Nina Goliňajeva recounts. “We were leaving scared because there was fire everywhere. The sky was red,” she added.
Refugees who have lost everything receive basic necessities and legal advice at the center. They do not know when they will be able to return home. Children playing on the floor don’t even notice the siren sounding from the TV.
“Stay at home if possible. Hide in rooms without windows, with solid walls. Stay away from windows,” a voice on the television urges.
The refugee center is also equipped with a bomb shelter, but it is padlocked. “Keys are in charge of the manager,” says the sign.
At the entrance to the city, a giant sign recalls the glorious past: sickle, hammer and red stars and the inscription “city of military glory”. During the Second World War, the largest tank battle in history took place here, which on August 23, 1943 resulted in a Soviet victory over Nazi troops.
But former glory has given way to present despair.
In the white tents of the Russian Red Cross, refugees crowd to get some clothes. From a distance it resembles an ordinary market, with coats, shirts and jeans on racks. However, nothing is tried here, but taken straight away.
“We don’t know what to do. I’ve been crying day and night, for days,” confides 70-year-old pensioner Zinajda Tarasjuková, who also had to leave her home. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’ve lost everything,” he says.
Some of the refugees saw scenes of devastation and destruction before they reached Kursk. “When we wanted to leave, our broken tanks were on fire. We drove in the opposite direction and everything was destroyed. I had a problem getting out of there before it was possible,” says fifty-year-old Inna Pereverzevová.
In front of the tent, volunteers from the Red Cross provide medical assistance, one woman has her blood pressure checked. In an office next door, volunteers sort humanitarian aid: blankets, vegetable oil, toilet paper.
Fifty-three-year-old Ljubov Bonarevová, with dark circles under her eyes, waits with the other evacuees. “There is nothing left for us. We just had time to get into the car and drive away. We just hope that we will be able to return home,” he says.