Heavy Fighting in Kursk: Humanitarian Tragedy and Rising Tensions

By Matthew Grace

Beginning on September 10^th, Russian “Units of the North” have assaulted and reclaimed ten settlements around Slagost (on Ukraine’s western flank) seized by Ukrainian forces after a surprise drive into Russia’s Kursk border region on August 6^th claimed the Russian Defense Ministry reported by the BBC. Ukraine’s President, Voldymir Zelensky confirmed Russia’s counteroffensive which “follows Ukraine’s counter plan”. Six Ukrainian brigades have sustained heavy casualties since the initial attack in the area west of Sudzha with a Ukrainian Officer fighting in the Kursk region elaborating, “the fighting is very tough, and the situation is not in our favor as of now”.

The Ukrainian counter offensive, launched on August 6^th intended to distract Russian forces fighting in the Donbas region and had captured five hundred square miles of Russian territory. During this initial Ukrainian incursion, three key bridges were destroyed along the River Seyum, but as of September 12^th, the Russians have recaptured over one hundred square kilometers in the Pokrovsk region. While the Russians have advanced in the Kursk region, they attacked and killed three Red Cross staff who were preparing to distribute wood and coal to homes in Viroliubivka village, north of Donetsk.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported three members were killed and another two injured in a strike in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky has blamed Russia for the attack, declaring it “another Russian war crime”. The ICRC labeled the attack “unconscionable” in that “shelling would hit an aid distribution site” and condemned the attack in “the strongest terms” but has refrained from identifying the attackers. The Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets commented online pressing the Red Cross to publicly attribute the attack to Russia. The Red Cross reiterated itself as a “neutral, impartial, and independent organization with an extensively humanitarian mandate”. Still, it deplored the “sharp rise” in the killings of humanitarian aid workers around the world.