Kursk sees ‘coexistence’ of Russians, Ukraine troops

The “several thousand” Russian civilians still living in territory occupied by Ukrainian troops are mostly elderly and largely cut off from the outside world, with no electricity or phone network, according to Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukrainian soldiers deployed as part of Kyiv’s shock offensive into Russia’s western Kursk region said of a “coexistence” with the locals.

Russian authorities have said tens of thousands of civilians fled at the start of the incursion.

Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky, spokesperson for Ukraine’s military administration in the Kursk region, said “several thousand” Russians are still there.

The Ukrainian soldiers said living conditions are difficult and civilians have to rely on their own reserves and vegetable gardens, or else the food, water and medicine the Ukrainian military says it is distributing.

Ukrainian soldiers said they did not encounter resistance from the local population.

The soldier said that he thought the friendliness might be because of the aid they have received, but acknowledged it could also be “because we are armed and people avoid expressing their true feelings”.

According to Mr. Dmytrashkivsky, Russian civilians were initially “terrified” and “hid” when they saw Ukrainian soldiers because of Russian state media narratives. Now “local residents are not afraid of the Ukrainian army”, said another soldier.