56 civilians killed in Ukraine's 7-week incursion in Kursk region, says Russia
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Both sides have denied targeting civilians during the 31-month-old conflict.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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MOSCOW – At least 56 civilians have been killed and 266 wounded during Ukraine's seven-week-old incursion into Russia's western Kursk region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sept 23.
Kyiv began the cross-border attack
The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier put the death toll at 31 in the period to Sept 5. The new toll covered the period up to Sept 20.
It said 131,000 civilians had left the most dangerous areas of the region but accused Ukrainian forces of holding some civilians against their will, including 70 to 120 people in the town of Sudzha.
Asked by Reuters about the statement, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said Ukraine abides by international humanitarian law and does not target civilians, and that it was unable to verify the assertions.
“Given Russia’s long history of false numbers and propaganda, there is simply no way of verifying their claims. If Russia wants to show the real situation on the ground it can grant such access to the United Nations and ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross),” he said.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield reports from either side.
Both sides have denied targeting civilians during the 31-month-old conflict.
Kyiv has previously said its incursion, the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War II, is intended partly to prevent Russian forces in the area from launching their own incursion across the border into Ukraine.
Kyiv has accused Russia of bomb strikes in the Kursk region and has asked representatives of the Un and the ICRC to go to the region, saying this would prove Ukraine's adherence to international humanitarian law during the incursion.
The Kremlin said such statements were “provocative”, and made clear that Moscow expected the UN and ICRC not to accept the invitation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier in September that his forces controlled 100 settlements in an area of more than 1,300 sq km in Kursk. Russian sources disputed this figure and Russia says it has since taken back some villages in a counter-attack.
