Kursk region evacuees to be relocated to Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia
Some residents of the Kursk region, evacuated from the area, will be relocated to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region. He reached an agreement with the pro-Russian "head" of Zaporizhzhia, Yevhen Balitsky, during a phone discussion.
According to Smirnov, residents will soon start being transported to temporary accommodation points in the occupied Ukrainian. On Balitsky's suggestion, spas and guesthouses near the Sea of Azov, from Berdyansk to Kyrylivka, will be used for relocation.
"Initial flights to temporary accommodation in the Zaporizhzhia region will be organized shortly," Smirnov announced. The Telegram channel "Important Stories" reported that Smirnov's post on Russian social network Vkontakte drew several outraged comments. "Are hotels in Zaporizhzhia sitting idle without tourists? Now, it seems they will be fully booked. There’s also shooting there. It would make more sense to evacuate people beyond the Urals,” complained locals from Kursk.
On August 8, residents of Sudzhansky district in the Kursk region, where a military operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine was underway, complained about the lack of evacuation options despite Smirnov having announced the organization of such measures. On August 10, the Emergency Situations Ministry announced that 76,000 people had been evacuated – more than the total population of the areas in Kursk region where the fighting was taking place. The following day, the emergency services reported that about 8,000 people had evacuated from border areas on their own and more than 6,000 were in temporary accommodation centers.