Latest news with #SergeiKurnosov
Arab News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Fear of more war haunts Kursk as Russia expels Ukrainian troops
RYLSK, Russia: In the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine has been fighting for more than seven months, people say they want peace but fear there will be more war. Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory was launched in August — more than two years into a major war triggered by Moscow's invasion of its neighbor — shocking a border region that hadn't seen conflict since World War Two. Now, with Russia close to expelling the last Ukrainian troops, Kursk's populace is counting the cost. For some residents like Leonid Boyarintsev, a veteran of the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969, the surprise enemy offensive served as justification for Russia to double down on its military activities in Ukraine. 'When we are victorious there will be peace because no one will dare to come crawling in again,' the 83-year-old told Reuters in the town of Rylsk, adding that he blamed the West for stoking the conflict in Ukraine. 'They will be too afraid to.' The damage that has been unleashed on towns and cities in the Russian region has brought home the horrors of war long suffered by Ukrainians. In ancient Rylsk, 26 km (16 miles) from the border, the scars are everywhere — from the smashed merchant buildings from Tsarist Russia to the families still struggling with children living apart in evacuation. 'We want peace but it is very important that the peace is long term and durable,' town Mayor Sergei Kurnosov told Reuters in the ruins of a cultural center that was destroyed in a Dec. 20 Ukrainian attack. Six people were killed and 12 injured in the attack, Russia said. Russia said the cultural center was destroyed by US-made HIMARS missiles. Abandoned music books lay beside silent pianos and a theater stage showing a shattered scene of rubble and glass. Reuters is among the first international news outlets to gain access to the Kursk region since Russia began a lightning offensive to expel Ukrainian troops this month. While Russian officials did not check reporting material, the Reuters team was informed in advance that it could not report about the Russian military in the region or gather visuals of Russian forces. Just like Ukrainians, many Kursk residents crave a return to normality Here too, air-raid sirens have become the daily soundtrack of life. While Russia has now pushed out almost all Ukrainian forces from Kursk, the area has been heavily mined and drones continue to attack. Many civilian cars speeding along a road near the vast Kurchatov nuclear power plant had drone jamming devices strapped onto their roofs. Residents shopped for food and vapes as artillery boomed in the distance. 'It's all very scary indeed,' said Rimma Erofeyeva, a music teacher in Rylsk who said people in the town wanted the fighting to stop though believed that God was protecting them. 'The really scary thing is that people have got so used to this that they don't even react to the sirens anymore.' SWARMS OF DRONES Ukrainian forces smashed into the Kursk region on August 6, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry, and swiftly seize almost 1,400 sq km of territory, according to Russian generals. But within weeks the area under Ukraine's control shrank as Russia piled in forces. The latest battlefield map from Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian site that charts the frontlines from open-source data, showed Ukraine controlled less than 81 sq km as of March 23. By contrast, Russia controls about 113,000 sq km, or about 20 percent, of Ukraine. The strategic fortunes of the Kursk incursion are disputed. Ukraine said the incursion was aimed at bringing the war to Russia, diverting Russian troops from advances in eastern Ukraine, embarrassing President Vladimir Putin and gaining a bargaining chip in potential future talks on ending the war. The operation 'achieved most of its goals,' the armed forces' General Staff told Reuters this week. The chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin, in a televised exchange during a trip by the president to a command post in the Kursk region on March 12, that Ukraine had lost tens of thousands of its best troops in a failed bid to distract Russian forces from the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. 'The Kyiv regime aimed to create a so-called strategic foothold in the Kursk region for later use as a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with Russia,' Gerasimov said. 'These plans of the enemy have completely failed.' Russia's defense ministry says Ukraine has lost 69,700 troops dead or injured in Kursk, along with 5,700 tanks, armored cars and many Western-supplied vehicles. Russia has not given its own casualty figures. Ukraine has given no casualty figures but dismisses Russian estimates as fake. New US President Donald Trump has vowed to end the three-year war in Ukraine, yet many people in the Kursk region are skeptical of any lasting peace because of deep-seated geopolitical tensions and distrust between Russia and the West. 'I don't think that there will be peace in our region in the near future,' said a resident of the city of Kursk who gave her name only as Yekaterina, citing resentment toward Russia from Ukraine and the West. 'There will be some hostility toward our people, toward our land for a very long time.'
Reuters
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Fear of more war haunts Kursk as Russia expels Ukrainian troops
RYLSK, Russia, March 26 (Reuters) - In the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine has been fighting for more than seven months, people say they want peace but fear there will be more war. Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory was launched in August - more than two years into a major war triggered by Moscow's invasion of its neighbour - shocking a border region that hadn't seen conflict since World War Two. Now, with Russia close to expelling the last Ukrainian troops, Kursk's populace is counting the cost. For some residents like Leonid Boyarintsev, a veteran of the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969, the surprise enemy offensive served as justification for Russia to double down on its military activities in Ukraine. "When we are victorious there will be peace because no one will dare to come crawling in again," the 83-year-old told Reuters in the town of Rylsk, adding that he blamed the West for stoking the conflict in Ukraine. "They will be too afraid to." The damage that has been unleashed on towns and cities in the Russian region has brought home the horrors of war long suffered by Ukrainians. In ancient Rylsk, 26 km (16 miles) from the border, the scars are everywhere - from the smashed merchant buildings from Tsarist Russia to the families still struggling with children living apart in evacuation. "We want peace but it is very important that the peace is long term and durable," town Mayor Sergei Kurnosov told Reuters in the ruins of a cultural centre that was destroyed in a Dec. 20 Ukrainian attack. Six people were killed and 12 injured in the attack, Russia said. Russia said the cultural centre was destroyed by U.S.-made HIMARS missiles. Abandoned music books lay beside silent pianos and a theatre stage showing a shattered scene of rubble and glass. Reuters is among the first international news outlets to gain access to the Kursk region since Russia began a lightning offensive to expel Ukrainian troops this month. While Russian officials did not check reporting material, the Reuters team was informed in advance that it could not report about the Russian military in the region or gather visuals of Russian forces. Just like Ukrainians, many Kursk residents crave a return to normality Here too, air-raid sirens have become the daily soundtrack of life. While Russia has now pushed out almost all Ukrainian forces from Kursk, the area has been heavily mined and drones continue to attack. Many civilian cars speeding along a road near the vast Kurchatov nuclear power plant had drone jamming devices strapped onto their roofs. Residents shopped for food and vapes as artillery boomed in the distance. "It's all very scary indeed," said Rimma Erofeyeva, a music teacher in Rylsk who said people in the town wanted the fighting to stop though believed that God was protecting them. "The really scary thing is that people have got so used to this that they don't even react to the sirens any more." SWARMS OF DRONES Ukrainian forces smashed into the Kursk region on August 6, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry, and swiftly seize almost 1,400 sq km of territory, according to Russian generals. But within weeks the area under Ukraine's control shrank as Russia piled in forces. The latest battlefield map from Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian site that charts the frontlines from open-source data, showed Ukraine controlled less than 81 sq km as of March 23. By contrast, Russia controls about 113,000 sq km, or about 20%, of Ukraine. The strategic fortunes of the Kursk incursion are disputed. Ukraine said the incursion was aimed at bringing the war to Russia, diverting Russian troops from advances in eastern Ukraine, embarrassing President Vladimir Putin and gaining a bargaining chip in potential future talks on ending the war. The operation "achieved most of its goals", the armed forces' General Staff told Reuters this week. The chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin, in a televised exchange during a trip by the president to a command post in the Kursk region on March 12, that Ukraine had lost tens of thousands of its best troops in a failed bid to distract Russian forces from the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. "The Kyiv regime aimed to create a so-called strategic foothold in the Kursk region for later use as a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with Russia," Gerasimov said. "These plans of the enemy have completely failed." Russia's defence ministry says Ukraine has lost 69,700 troops dead or injured in Kursk, along with 5,700 tanks, armoured cars and many Western-supplied vehicles. Russia has not given its own casualty figures. Ukraine has given no casualty figures but dismisses Russian estimates as fake. New U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to end the three-year war in Ukraine, yet many people in the Kursk region are sceptical of any lasting peace because of deep-seated geopolitical tensions and distrust between Russia and the West. "I don't think that there will be peace in our region in the near future," said a resident of the city of Kursk who gave her name only as Yekaterina, citing resentment towards Russia from Ukraine and the West. "There will be some hostility towards our people, towards our land for a very long time."
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In a Russian border region scarred by war, civilians want peace with Ukraine — but not compromise
RYLSK, Russia — Air-raid sirens are greeted with a shrug in the small town of Rylsk in Russia's southwestern Kursk oblast, where residents carry on with their day unconcerned as loud speakers warn, 'Attention, missile danger, proceed to shelter.' Nearby, soldiers stand around smoking cigarettes or jump from vehicles to pick up packages from the Ozon store, a Russian equivalent of Amazon, in the thousand-year-old town. Today, Rylsk sits just behind the front lines of the war Russia launched with the invasion of Ukraine, abandoned by the students who used to come and study at its four colleges. Its population is now mostly Russian troops, elderly people and those who have left nearby villages that have been occupied or become too dangerous in the eight months since Ukrainian forces crossed their northwestern border in a surprise incursion that Russia has failed to fully push back. In the now militarized town that is dotted with traditional blue and white churches, the signs of missile and drone damage are clear on some of the buildings. Standing in the rubble of a destroyed elementary school, Mayor Sergei Kurnosov, 39, told NBC News that a concert hall and a teachers college had also been struck in December. NBC News could not independently verify this claim.'We hope that peace will come, and we will return to normal peaceful coexistence, normal, peaceful life,' he said, emphasizing that civilians had been killed in the town as a result of the fighting. Here, almost every family has relatives in Ukraine and there are still street signs pointing the way to the town of Glukhov across the border. 'We hope that the leaders will come to an agreement and we will have peace,' added Kurnosov, who carries a drone detector with him at all times. Asked about the children killed across the border since Russia invaded Ukraine and the targeting of schools there, he called the question 'provocative.' Draconian legislation means that people can be jailed up to 15 years for criticizing the Russian army and the conflict, but others have been influenced by three years of powerful state media messaging priming them for war. Even some who want peace said they did not want to compromise. There is deep resistance to the idea that President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the war, which rumbled into its third year last month. While people were keen to return to a normal life, Kurnosov said, this could only be achieved if Ukrainian forces left the region. 'We must liberate our territory,' he said. 'This is clear.' Elsewhere, Leonid Meshkov, a 39-year-old construction worker, said the war 'began with' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. To end the war 'everything rests on Zelensky, and not on Putin,' he said. While his administration has reached out to the Kremlin in recent weeks and cut off military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, President Donald Trump said Friday that he was 'strongly considering' sanctions and tariffs on Russia in hopes of forcing a settlement to end the war. In a post on Truth Social he said they could remain in place 'until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.' While Ukrainian forces remain in Kursk, 'it's a very serious barrier for any talks,' Andrei Fedorov, Russia's former deputy foreign minister, told NBC News in an interview Tuesday. Without elaborating, he added that 'there is a kind of order to take Kursk back by the end of March, so maybe the problem will disappear.' While this would mean more fighting and go against Trump's ambition to end the conflict quickly — on the campaign trail he vowed to end the war within 24 hours of taking office — Fedorov said he believed the Kremlin was hoping to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin. But he said it is demanding to know more about the White House's ultimate goals before the Russian leader could commit. 'Meeting with Trump without results is not suitable for Putin,' Federov said, adding that the Russian leader needed results and 'a visible victory.' Talks between the two leaders were broached at high-level talks attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, last month. But while the United States and Russia agreed to re-establish 'the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and Moscow,' there has been little movement since then. And according to Fedorov, who remains a Putin ally, the American delegation arrived without concrete proposals. Meeting Trump was like going 'to the desert,' he added. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview Tuesday that her country was 'not in a hurry but we are ready' for talks. 'It depends on both sides and the speed of both sides,' she added. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Thursday that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that his team would stay on to hold talks with U.S. officials. Zelenskyy has been on the back foot following the disastrous Oval Office meeting last week with Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The White House subsequently cut off Ukraine's American intelligence feed that has helped it to anticipate Russian attacks and troop movements, and avoid nightly barrages from Russian drones on its cities and infrastructure. For Russia, an ultimate goal will be securing sanctions relief from the Trump administration. But Trump won't be able to do that unilaterally, said Maximilian Hess, author of 'Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West.' But while the White House has made no secret that it is interested in economic opportunities with Russia, he said the 'most important' sanctions 'are shielded by legislation.' 'That means those Russian individuals and entities blacklisted under certain executive orders cannot be lifted without congressional review,' Hess added. With Republicans currently in control of both the House and the Senate 'a simple majority vote is all that would be needed to lift these sanctions,' he said, adding the only obstacle would be whether the party's lawmakers were prepared to 'buck Trump on this issue.' In Russia, people had been incentivized to fight, according to Fedorov, the former deputy foreign minister, who pointed to the fact that people receive around 2 million rubles, or around $20,000 when they sign up for the army, and then around 200,000 rubles around $2,250 a month. The average Russian salary is around $830 a month. So, people in the army understand 'they will lose all this money' if the war stops, he said, adding that the other problem would be 'what to do with the military-industrial complex, which is now working 24/7.' The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based defense think tank, estimates that around 80,000 troops, including some from North Korea, are ranged against Ukraine in Kursk. Ahead of Putin's invasion in February 2022, the region was a critical rally point for the massive buildup of forces along the border; columns of tanks from a major military base in the area were among the first to pour into Ukraine's neighboring Kharkiv region. Today, camouflaged encampments, troop carriers and military checkpoints are ever present. Anti-tank defenses line the highway and plastered across a building in Rylsk is a quote from Putin. 'Being strong is a guarantee of national security for Russia,' it reads. Standing outside a store selling military uniforms, Margarita Akhapkina, 35, said 'everyone' wants the war to be over. The mother of four, who said her husband has been serving in Putin's forces for three years, added that war had become 'normal.' Many, including Stanislav Boikin, a 16-year-old high school student, are hopeful that Trump can help to secure a peace deal. Speaking in English, the teenager said the American president was 'a wonderful person.' Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva reported from Rylsk, and Matthew Bodner from London. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In a Russian border region scarred by war, civilians want peace with Ukraine — but not compromise
RYLSK, Russia — Air-raid sirens are greeted with a shrug in the small town of Rylsk in Russia's southwestern Kursk oblast, where residents carry on with their day unconcerned as loud speakers warn, 'Attention, missile danger, proceed to shelter.' Nearby, soldiers stand around smoking cigarettes or jump from vehicles to pick up packages from the Ozon store, a Russian equivalent of Amazon, in the thousand-year-old town. Today, Rylsk sits just behind the front lines of the war Russia launched with the invasion of Ukraine, abandoned by the students who used to come and study at its four colleges. Its population is now mostly Russian troops, elderly people and those who have left nearby villages that have been occupied or become too dangerous in the eight months since Ukrainian forces crossed their northwestern border in a surprise incursion that Russia has failed to fully push back. In the now militarized town that is dotted with traditional blue and white churches, the signs of missile and drone damage are clear on some of the buildings. Standing in the rubble of a destroyed elementary school, Mayor Sergei Kurnosov, 39, told NBC News that a concert hall and a teachers college had also been struck in December. NBC News could not independently verify this claim.'We hope that peace will come, and we will return to normal peaceful coexistence, normal, peaceful life,' he said, emphasizing that civilians had been killed in the town as a result of the fighting. Here, almost every family has relatives in Ukraine and there are still street signs pointing the way to the town of Glukhov across the border. 'We hope that the leaders will come to an agreement and we will have peace,' added Kurnosov, who carries a drone detector with him at all times. Asked about the children killed across the border since Russia invaded Ukraine and the targeting of schools there, he called the question 'provocative.' Draconian legislation means that people can be jailed up to 15 years for criticizing the Russian army and the conflict, but others have been influenced by three years of powerful state media messaging priming them for war. Even some who want peace said they did not want to compromise. There is deep resistance to the idea that President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the war, which rumbled into its third year last month. While people were keen to return to a normal life, Kurnosov said, this could only be achieved if Ukrainian forces left the region. 'We must liberate our territory,' he said. 'This is clear.' Elsewhere, Leonid Meshkov, a 39-year-old construction worker, said the war 'began with' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. To end the war 'everything rests on Zelensky, and not on Putin,' he said. While his administration has reached out to the Kremlin in recent weeks and cut off military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, President Donald Trump said Friday that he was 'strongly considering' sanctions and tariffs on Russia in hopes of forcing a settlement to end the war. In a post on Truth Social he said they could remain in place 'until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.' While Ukrainian forces remain in Kursk, 'it's a very serious barrier for any talks,' Andrei Fedorov, Russia's former deputy foreign minister, told NBC News in an interview Tuesday. Without elaborating, he added that 'there is a kind of order to take Kursk back by the end of March, so maybe the problem will disappear.' While this would mean more fighting and go against Trump's ambition to end the conflict quickly — on the campaign trail he vowed to end the war within 24 hours of taking office — Fedorov said he believed the Kremlin was hoping to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin. But he said it is demanding to know more about the White House's ultimate goals before the Russian leader could commit. 'Meeting with Trump without results is not suitable for Putin,' Federov said, adding that the Russian leader needed results and 'a visible victory.' Talks between the two leaders were broached at high-level talks attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, last month. But while the United States and Russia agreed to re-establish 'the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and Moscow,' there has been little movement since then. And according to Fedorov, who remains a Putin ally, the American delegation arrived without concrete proposals. Meeting Trump was like going 'to the desert,' he added. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview Tuesday that her country was 'not in a hurry but we are ready' for talks. 'It depends on both sides and the speed of both sides,' she added. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Thursday that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that his team would stay on to hold talks with U.S. officials. Zelenskyy has been on the back foot following the disastrous Oval Office meeting last week with Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The White House subsequently cut off Ukraine's American intelligence feed that has helped it to anticipate Russian attacks and troop movements, and avoid nightly barrages from Russian drones on its cities and infrastructure. For Russia, an ultimate goal will be securing sanctions relief from the Trump administration. But Trump won't be able to do that unilaterally, said Maximilian Hess, author of 'Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West.' But while the White House has made no secret that it is interested in economic opportunities with Russia, he said the 'most important' sanctions 'are shielded by legislation.' 'That means those Russian individuals and entities blacklisted under certain executive orders cannot be lifted without congressional review,' Hess added. With Republicans currently in control of both the House and the Senate 'a simple majority vote is all that would be needed to lift these sanctions,' he said, adding the only obstacle would be whether the party's lawmakers were prepared to 'buck Trump on this issue.' In Russia, people had been incentivized to fight, according to Fedorov, the former deputy foreign minister, who pointed to the fact that people receive around 2 million rubles, or around $20,000 when they sign up for the army, and then around 200,000 rubles around $2,250 a month. The average Russian salary is around $830 a month. So, people in the army understand 'they will lose all this money' if the war stops, he said, adding that the other problem would be 'what to do with the military-industrial complex, which is now working 24/7.' The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based defense think tank, estimates that around 80,000 troops, including some from North Korea, are ranged against Ukraine in Kursk. Ahead of Putin's invasion in February 2022, the region was a critical rally point for the massive buildup of forces along the border; columns of tanks from a major military base in the area were among the first to pour into Ukraine's neighboring Kharkiv region. Today, camouflaged encampments, troop carriers and military checkpoints are ever present. Anti-tank defenses line the highway and plastered across a building in Rylsk is a quote from Putin. 'Being strong is a guarantee of national security for Russia,' it reads. Standing outside a store selling military uniforms, Margarita Akhapkina, 35, said 'everyone' wants the war to be over. The mother of four, who said her husband has been serving in Putin's forces for three years, added that war had become 'normal.' Many, including Stanislav Boikin, a 16-year-old high school student, are hopeful that Trump can help to secure a peace deal. Speaking in English, the teenager said the American president was 'a wonderful person.' Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva reported from Rylsk, and Matthew Bodner from London. This article was originally published on
