56 Civilians Killed In Ukrainian Attack For 7 Weeks In Russian Kursk

Russian/Military Alexey Konovov/TASS

JAKARTA - A total of 56 civilians were killed and 266 injured in a seven-week Ukrainian attack on Russia's western Kursk region.

Kyiv began a cross-border attack on August 6, more than two years after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine, and Ukrainian troops are still in the Kursk region.

As reported by Reuters on Monday, September 23, the Russian Foreign Ministry previously stated the death toll of 31 people in the period as of September 5. While the latest number of casualties spans the period until September 20.

As many as 131,000 civilians have fled the region's most dangerous areas but accuse Ukrainian troops of detaining some civilians beyond their wishes, including 70-120 people in the city of Sudzha.

Ukraine did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Foreign Ministry's statement.

Kyiv previously said their attack, which was the largest foreign attack on Russia since the Second World War, was partly intended to prevent Russian troops in the region from launching their own attacks across the border into Ukraine.

Kyiv accused Russia of carrying out a bomb attack on the Kursk region and asked UN representatives and the International Red Cross Committee to review the region.

The Kremlin said such a statement was "provocative", explaining Moscow expects the United Nations and the ICRC not to accept the invitation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this month his forces controlled 100 settlements in the Kursk area in an area of more than 1,300 square km (500 square miles). Russian sources denied this figure and Russia said they had reclaimed several villages through counter-attacks.