Kremlin claims no appeals for humanitarian corridor were received from Sudzha residents
Pravda Ukraine
Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, said that the Kremlin has not received evacuation requests from residents of Sudzha, a city in the Russian Federation’s Kursk Oblast that is currently under Ukrainian control.
Source: Russian publications Podyem and Kommersant
Quote: “Honestly, the first time I hear about this [about the request to organise a humanitarian corridor for evacuation – ed.]. We have not seen this, unfortunately, and did not receive any requests in this regard.”
Details: On 13 September, Kommersant reported that inhabitants of the Sudzha district of Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation wrote to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, requesting that a humanitarian corridor “for the evacuation of civilians” be opened immediately.
According to the media, residents appended to the petition a list of family and friends who are in the territory held by Ukraine’s Armed Forces. It had 186 names, including 7 minors. According to reports, the majority of the families have no idea what happened to their loved ones. According to Kommersant, the International Committee of the Red Cross previously requested Russia and Ukraine to organise negotiations on the humanitarian corridor, but allegedly received no answer.
- The operation in Kursk Oblast began on 6 August. On 10 August, on the fifth day of the Ukrainian army’s offensive deep into Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine had brought the war to Russian territory.
- On 27 August, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that since the beginning of the operation in Kursk Oblast in Russia, Ukraine had captured 594 Russian soldiers and controlled more than 100 settlements or 1,294 sq. km.
- It is worth noting that Ukrainian troops began distributing humanitarian aid to people in the city of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk Oblast as early as the first day of the operation. Many media outlets recorded this. Ukrainian Pravda also paid a visit to Sudzha and spoke with its locals.
- Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister at the time, stressed that Russian civilians within the buffer zone are protected by international humanitarian law, which Ukraine fully complies with.
- She stated that Ukrainian military forces planned humanitarian operations to assist civilians; the establishment of humanitarian corridors for their evacuation both to Russia and to Ukraine; and the admission of international humanitarian organisations for humanitarian response and situation monitoring.
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also brought up the issue of establishing military commandants’ offices if required in the territories of Russia’s Kursk Oblast that are under the control of Ukraine’s defence forces.
- It was also claimed that Ukraine is prepared to provide schooling to children in Kursk Oblast if the necessity arises.
- On 16 September, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry invited the UN and the ICRC to join humanitarian response efforts in the areas of Russia’s Kursk Oblast currently controlled by Ukrainian forces.
- Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, described Ukraine’s invitation as “a provocation”, adding that Russia expects the UN and the ICRC to reject Kyiv’s calls.
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