On Wednesday, Russia announced that 288 civilians had lost their lives during Ukraine’s prolonged military operations in the Kursk region, which Moscow asserted it had completely secured from Ukrainian forces over the past weekend.

In August 2024, Kyiv deployed its military across the border in response to Russia’s comprehensive invasion of Ukraine.

In recent days, the Kremlin has indicated that, with assistance from North Korean soldiers, it managed to expel Ukrainian troops from the western border area, although Kyiv maintains that fighting is ongoing in the region.

“According to the data from the Health Ministry, since August, the health of 791 individuals has been compromised, resulting in 288 fatalities,” stated Acting Governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinstein, in a social media post.

He also mentioned that authorities are still far from retrieving all the bodies of deceased civilians from the border regions.

Khinstein did not provide specific information about the circumstances of the civilians’ deaths.

President Vladimir Putin has declared that any Ukrainian soldiers captured in the Kursk region will be treated as “terrorists” and will face consequences.

Russia initiated its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of thousands.