Over 100 Civilians Evacuated to Ukraine Following Deadly Russian Strike in Kursk Region

More than 100 Russian civilians, including several critically injured, were evacuated to Ukraine following an attack by the Russian Armed Forces on a boarding school in Sudzha, Kursk region. The evacuees, many of whom were elderly, crossed the border at night in civilian and military vehicles with headlights turned off to avoid detection by Russian drones.

According to The Washington Post, which interviewed over 40 of these evacuees, the cross-border evacuation marked the largest such movement of Russian civilians since the start of the Kursk operation. Ukrainian authorities facilitated the evacuation, and efforts are underway to return the individuals to Russia through Belarus.

Journalists met with the evacuees at a hospital and a shelter in Ukraine. There were no military personnel present, only law enforcement officers ensuring that locals did not disturb the displaced individuals.

Those who had passports were required to present them for verification by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU). While the evacuees were free to leave, most remained due to having no alternative destinations, with only one elderly woman relocating to her Ukrainian relatives.

Eyewitness accounts

Several evacuees shared their experiences of the attack on the Sudzha boarding school. Among them was 69-year-old Antonina Romanova, who suffered leg injuries when a wall collapsed on her. She recounted that Ukrainian troops attempted to rescue her but were initially unable to reach her due to the debris. She also recalled soldiers warning civilians to take cover as Russian drones circled overhead.

Despite the attack, Romanova’s 69-year-old partner, Mikhail, stated, “We love our country and our president. No matter what happened to us, we will never betray our homeland.” He and his two friends confirmed that they had voted for Vladimir Putin. Another evacuee, 63-year-old Sergey, also said he had supported Putin but called for an end to the war, stating that people needed “something good to make them forget this as soon as possible.”

A 61-year-old man named Nikolai expressed frustration, saying, “I’ve had enough of this war. I’m against it.” Meanwhile, Romanova herself said she was unsure who was responsible for the strike, while her 72-year-old brother, a Ukrainian citizen, believed it was a Russian attack.

Recorded conversations

A recorded phone conversation between Russian General Apti Alaudinov and a Ukrainian military officer, released by the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, provided additional context.

The conversation, reportedly from late 2024, suggested that Alaudinov was aware of civilians being housed in the Sudzha boarding school and assured that it would not be targeted. However, another recording from early February captured him stating that other Russian units may have conducted strikes in the area.

The Ukrainian military press officer who released the recordings stated that Alaudinov initially promised to facilitate a humanitarian corridor for evacuating civilians but later tried to justify why the Russian side had not followed through. He further noted that the general publicly blamed Ukraine for the attack while privately acknowledging Russian involvement.

Earlier, the Armed Forces of Ukraine presented evidence confirming that a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber carried out an airstrike on a nursing home in Sudzha, Kursk region, on February 1. The attack, which targeted a building sheltering 86 civilians, resulted in multiple casualties. Ukrainian authorities released flight trajectory data from the ‘Virazh-Planchet’ system, proving the bomb was launched from Russian airspace.