Displaced residents of Kursk Oblast will be paid $115, Putin decrees

Residents who have been displaced by the ongoing fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast will be paid 10,000 rubles ($115) each as compensation, President Vladimir Putin said on Aug. 8.

In a video conference with Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of the oblast, Putin said that it would a be one-time payment to "citizens who need it." He added that "other damage will also need to be assessed."

Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, resulting in clashes on Russian soil that were described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as "a large-scale provocation."

Kyiv has largely refused to comment on the operation in Kursk Oblast, which takes place just as Russia is ramping up attacks in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.

Much of the fighting is reportedly taking place around Sudzha, a village with a population of around 5,000 people located less than 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border with Ukraine. The city of Kursk lies 85 kilometers (53 miles) to the northeast of Sudzha.

According to Russian media, several thousand people have been reportedly evacuated from Kursk Oblast.

The state-owned train operator Moscow Railway said on Aug. 8 that the railway stations in Sudzha, Korenevo, and Psel are "temporarily closed to passengers."

Ukraine’s unprecedented attack on Kursk Oblast brings war back to Russian soil

Russian sovereign territory is once again under attack after Ukrainian forces launched an ambitious operation across the state border in Kursk Oblast in large numbers on Aug. 6. This time, the attack is led not primarily by small units of pro-Ukraine Russian nationals and other assorted foreign for…

The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell