Authorities in the southwestern Kursk region reported on Tuesday that two individuals lost their lives after stepping on a landmine close to the Ukrainian border.

Acting Governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, revealed that the deceased were aged 38 and 28, but their names were not disclosed. They reportedly entered a minefield near the village of Popovka, situated approximately 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.

Khinshtein confirmed that both victims died instantly due to the mine explosion. He urged residents to exercise “extreme caution” due to the threats posed by unexploded ordnance in the border areas of the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces conducted an incursion last August.

In April, the Russian military announced that it had removed all Ukrainian troops from the region following a successful counteroffensive, during which North Korea dispatched thousands of troops to support Moscow.

Since March, Russia has been engaged in clearing mines from areas it has recaptured in the Kursk region, a task that officials expect may take over a year to complete.

Last week, Khinshtein reported that a camera operator for state media was hospitalized after suffering injuries from another mine explosion in the border vicinity.

Nikolai Ivanov, a representative of the Kursk region in Russia’s lower house, mentioned last month that living conditions have become “even more challenging than during the occupation” due to ongoing Ukrainian aerial assaults.

“It feels as if the Ukrainians are exacting vengeance on us, the civilians, for their loss at Kursk,” Ivanov told the RTVI broadcaster. “Fatal incidents occur almost daily across various parts of the Kursk region.”