Russia Says Ukraine Kidnapped Over 1000 Kursk Residents, Seeks Whereabouts

The Kremlin has issued a formal accusation saying Ukraine’s military has captured and is holding over 1,000 Kursk residents against their will, since launching the cross-border offensive in early August.

Russia’s presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Monday, “I’ve received messages regarding more than 1,000 such people from relatives trying to find them.”

Via AFP: Displaced people receive humanitarian aid at a Russian Red Cross distribution point in Kursk.

“We know nothing about their fate. This is a gross violation of their rights and international norms of treatment of civilians,” Moskalkova added. She said she plans to raise the issue directly with the Ukrainian government.

“I think it would be useful to remind you that the forced removal of civilians from their places of permanent residence is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention,” Moskalkova continued (according to machine translation). “And the world community should probably give this a proper assessment.”

Russia has estimated that since the start of the Ukrainian army’s attack on its southwest border region, over 112,000 residents have been displaced from their homes. 

Social media videos have often confirmed that amid the Ukrainian troop invasion a number of Russians have remained – often elderly people have been spotted, perhaps unable to flee.

Moskalkova has identified that over 12,000 of the displaced Russians are living at temporary displacement shelters in various parts of Russia. Other have been forced to stay with relatives in safe parts of Russia.

Ukraine has claimed that its forces are treating Russian civilians in captured territory humanely. In September Kiev requested that teams from United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) come in and verify the situation in areas of Russia’s Kursk.

Moscow has complained about such requests, arguing that any international organization or even media must coordinate with the Kremlin before stepping foot on Russian sovereign territory. For example, Russia has issued charges targeting a CNN team that crossed the border while embedded with Ukrainian troops.

OVER 1,000 RESIDENTS OF RUSSIA’S KURSK REGION FORCIBLY EVACUATED BY UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES ARE BEING SOUGHT BY THEIR RELATIVES – RUSSIAN COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The forcible removal of civilians is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention; the international community… pic.twitter.com/RUJHcaA70n

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) October 14, 2024

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said that the UN and Red Cross invitation was intended to “prove [Ukraine’s] adherence to international humanitarian law.”

Meanwhile, Kiev has accused Russian troops of conducting mass executions as it fights Ukrainians in Kursk:

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman has denounced the alleged execution of nine captured Ukrainian troops by Russian forces in the Kursk border region.

Dmytro Lubinets said he had written to the United Nations and the Red Cross about the allegations, accusing Moscow of breaching “all the rules and customs of war”.

The intervention follows reporting by Ukrainian battlefield analysis site DeepState, which published drone footage purporting to show the dead troops who it said were drone operators. Officials in Russia have yet to comment on the allegations.

Over the weekend President Zelensky said that his forces continue to “hold the line” in Kursk. But analysts agree that the Kursk operation has no impact on front lines in the Donbass, where pro-Kiev forces are losing ground.