Death Toll Rises: Over 350 Confirmed Dead and 800 Missing in Kursk Amid Ukrainian Occupation

Over 350 residents of Russia’s Kursk region in the southwest have lost their lives, with nearly 800 others still unaccounted for following Ukraine’s extended occupation of the area, local officials reported on Tuesday.

«The whereabouts of 789 individuals from the border regions, including four children, are still unknown. Official figures indicate 358 fatalities,» stated Alexei Tsukanov, the region’s Prosecutor General, during a local discussion.

In August 2024, Ukrainian forces seized control of numerous towns in the Kursk region during an unexpected cross-border offensive, marking the first instance of a foreign army occupying Russian soil since World War II.

More than 150,000 residents were ordered to evacuate their homes, with many subsequently protesting against the poor living conditions and what they considered inadequate government support and compensation for their damaged properties.

Last month, Russia’s military announced that it had completely expelled Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region, aided by North Korean troops.

At that time, Acting Governor of Kursk Alexander Khinshtein reported that the civilian death toll from the nine-month occupation had reached 288.

Neither Khinshtein nor Tsukanov elaborated on the circumstances of the civilian casualties.

However, Tsukanov mentioned on Tuesday that Russian military investigators have documented 582 offenses supposedly perpetrated by «Ukrainian neo-Nazis and their supporters,» as per the regional broadcaster Seym.

Since the comprehensive invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, authorities have noted that at least 621 Russian civilians have died due to Ukrainian strikes in the regions of Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov, Krasnodar, as well as in annexed Crimea.

In contrast, the United Nations estimates that over 13,100 Ukrainian civilians have lost their lives since President Vladimir Putin ordered military action across the border more than three years ago.