Russian civilians evacuated to Ukraine after Russia’s deadly strike on shelter

The Washington Post reported the information.

Most evacuees crossed into Ukraine in nighttime operations after a Feb. 1 strike on a shelter in Sudzha killed at least five people. Many, elderly and with no belongings, were transported through backroads to evade Russian drones. Ukrainian Red Cross teams met them at the border, moving them to hospitals and shelters.

This marks the largest evacuation of Russian civilians since Ukraine’s cross-border offensive last August, which seized parts of Russia’s Kursk region. Moscow and Kyiv failed to establish a humanitarian corridor, leaving civilians stranded. Ukrainian troops have since facilitated small-scale evacuations, sending most evacuees, including children and the wounded, back to Russia via Belarus.

The Washington Post journalists met with the evacuated Russian civilians at a Ukrainian hospital and shelter.

"The Sumy region’s military administration said that visitors are allowed to enter the shelter and that the Russian civilians are free to leave, although most have chosen not to because they have nowhere to go. One elderly evacuee had left to stay with her Ukrainian relatives at their home," the report said.

• On February 1, the Russian army dropped an air bomb on a boarding school in Sudzha, Kursk region, where elderly and sick people were seeking shelter.
• A leaked video showed Russian military commander Apti Alaudinov admitting knowledge of Russian airstrikes on a civilian shelter in Sudzha, despite earlier promises to secure safe passage for those inside.