Over 122,000 Russians flee border areas amid Kursk invasion

Over 122,000 Russians have fled the border regions amid Ukraine’s Kursk invasion, according to Russian media.

Residents have left their homes in huge numbers following Kyiv’s surprise counter-punch, TASS said, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has previously said that his forces have captured 1,250sq/km (480 square miles) and 92 settlements in Kursk so far.

Civilians with small children in their arms and lugging heavy suitcases have fled from Ukraine’s eastern city of Pokrovsk, where the Russian army was bearing down fast despite a lightning Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, Associated Press reports.

Local authorities said Russian forces were advancing so quickly that families were under orders to leave the city and other nearby towns and villages starting Tuesday. Around 53,000 people still live in Pokrovsk, officials said, and some of them decided to get out immediately. We will have more detail on that shortly.