Kursk Region Governor Alexey Smirnov Reports to Putin

Plus, Medvedev's Telegram note.

24+ hours old situation map. Nothing newer is currently available

The Ukie’s Kursk Oblast invasion was halted and pushed back as per many reports from the front, but there’s little evidence currently available to confirm them. At 16:45 Moscow time, the acting Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov met with Putin to give him another report, which the Kremlin published.

Vladimir Putin: Alexey Borisovich, good afternoon!

Alexey Smirnov: Hello, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Vladimir Putin: Alexey Borisovich, you were appointed to this position not so long ago, and you have been acting governor of the Kursk Region not so long ago, but life sets you extraordinary and complex tasks in helping people. Only your professional knowledge, skills and professional experience, which you certainly have, are not enough here. This requires you, and the current situation also requires a certain amount of courage and concentration to solve these complex, difficult, and extraordinary tasks that are currently facing all branches and all levels of government, including the governor and your team.

Of course, I am aware of the overall situation, but I would like to hear your assessment of the situation in the region right now. And a few words about organizing the work of the headquarters and coordinating the activities of various authorities.

Please, Alexey Borisovich.

Alexey Smirnov: Thank you, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

First of all, I would like to thank you for your trust in me and for appointing me to a position in our border region at this crucial moment, and for the support you provide to the population of the Kursk region.

Our headquarters is open all the time, and we meet face-to-face as necessary, as well as by phone every day.

When the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the territory of the Russian Federation, Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region-it was five in the morning on August 6, when the enemy forces of infantry and armored vehicles tried to break through our state border-the headquarters immediately gathered, and I, together with all members of the headquarters, coordinate this work almost around the clock. All the deputy governors, our regional government and all the law enforcement agencies that are part of the headquarters, plus the Ministry of Defense, are involved.

We are constantly supported by the federal Government, I am in constant contact with the Prime Minister, deputies, I am in contact with the Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Alexey Dumin, with the Minister of Defense, and now there are deputies of many ministers and departments here.

First of all, after assessing the situation, we started moving people out. This was quite a difficult problem, because the DRG of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the civilian population, shelled ambulances, which at the cost of their own lives, sacrificing themselves – there are cases where doctors died – took out the population. We have involved the village council administrations, the regional administration, and the DNI. We had cars transferred to the DND, armored vehicles that we received at one time from banks, cash collectors, and now banks provide up to 80 additional units there.

They transported people to a safe distance, and from there they have already organized the removal of large-capacity buses. This work was carried out around the clock, and it continues.

By PVR. We have free seats now. We are constantly releasing buildings and premises for this purpose, and business entities have agreed to meet them halfway. In addition, we have agreed with Russian Railways, we have received three trains, where we can accommodate an additional 2,400 people. And an additional eight trains have arrived, where we can accommodate people, give them humanitarian aid and send them immediately by rail, because almost all the leaders of the regions of the Russian Federation have responded and provide such places. In other words, we will take people out of the Kursk Region both by bus and by rail, and our colleagues will accommodate them.

Also, attention was immediately paid to medicine. In the first 24 hours, we increased the number of ambulance teams to 34, freed up hospital beds, transferred emergency supplies of medicines, bandages, and brought 16 medical teams to work – trauma surgeons.

Now, with the support of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, we have already increased the number of beds to 1,800. We have 61 teams coming from different regions. An additional 60 highly qualified doctors arrived. The Federal Medical and Biological Agency has deployed an additional 100 beds to the hospital, a mobile hospital from the Ministry of Health is moving. Therefore, medical issues have also been resolved.

The All-Russian People's Front, United Russia, and businesses have joined in, bringing rescue and humanitarian aid and things to our designated base, as well as electronic warfare and communications equipment, which are also sent primarily to affected people, and are also sent to law enforcement agencies if necessary, to volunteers and members of the DND who need to work with us. participate in the removal of people from potentially dangerous places.

Therefore, now the headquarters is going to meet as needed, everyone is at their workplaces. Today I held an extended meeting of the headquarters-this time with representatives of federal ministries and departments. I also gave instructions to my deputies and the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Kursk Region to jointly check whether there are cases when retail outlets, hotels, and catering establishments unreasonably inflate prices, that is, they profit from the affected people. This, of course, we will stop.

I also held talks with Igor Ivanovich Secheny today, with our fuel and energy complex, so that all gas stations function, there is fuel, reserves. We also carry out systematic work with them to ensure that all refueling complexes are equipped with electronic warfare and armor protection.

We have a call center-"112". We accept calls, and we process every call. Today, it was decided that state employees who worked in these territories should keep the average salary: those who worked received funds from the regional budget – at the expense of the regional budget, those who worked at the expense of the municipal budget or in business – they were recommended to support the same activities.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you very much for your support. I have already reported to you and to the Government of the Russian Federation – yesterday, the first funds for the resettlement of residents from potentially dangerous territories were also received. We have all the lists formed and approved. We continue this work. I collected builders of the Kursk region. We have a sufficient amount of housing on both the primary and secondary markets. These are apartments and houses that people can also buy. Funds are allocated at the cost per square meter of the Ministry of Construction of Russia. We have already resettled 447 families. This work continues.

All questions that will be received additionally, we discuss with our colleagues in the staff mode and try to remove them. I also ask you, Mr Putin, to support a one-time payment of 10 thousand rubles per person to those people who were forced to leave their homes in connection with these events [About $115], because many people are in apartments without even taking their documents. Of course, we provide all the necessary assistance, but this measure is also being proposed at the expense of the federal budget.

I have finished my report, and I will continue to report to you systematically, just as I did before. Thank you, we are ready to answer your questions.

Vladimir Putin: Alexey Borisovich, we spoke with the Prime Minister quite recently. We will assume that the decision on a one-time payment of 10 thousand rubles to citizens who need it has been made, and the necessary resources will be directed. In addition, it will be necessary to assess other damage. Please, together with colleagues from various departments, including the Ministry of Emergency Situations, this work will need to be carried out. This means the loss of property, housing, and all this will have to be done on a full scale.

And, as I always say in such cases, it is necessary to work directly with people, to reach every family. The Ministry of Health is working on this, as you have already noted.

We were planning to hold today's meeting in person, but the circumstances have developed so that you, of course, now need to be on the spot. But we will continue this work and these contacts. This also applies to the prospects for the development of the Kursk region as a whole.

The Kursk Region is a very promising area, very interesting, and I am sure you will find it interesting to work there. And you, for your part, will do everything possible to ensure that the Kursk Region solves the development tasks that it faces.

And of course, now I want to come back to this again, now we need to work with the affected people, affected families – directly, directly, to be as close as possible to people.

Thank you and keep in touch. [My Emphasis]

As you read, the main concern is with the safety of the civilian population and many efforts are being made in that area. Putin’s by now usual mantra: Work directly with the affected people; ensure no one is overlooked. But there was no mention of the military situation. On Russia’s English language media, there’s lots of video and text reports about the smashing of the Ukie forces which are easy to find. And in the SMO area Russian forces continue their advance, the Kursk ploy having done nothing to halt Russian progress. Here’s what Dmitri Medvedev wrote on his Telegram about the invasion:

The causes and goals of the terrorist operation of the Ukronazis in the Kursk region have already been reflected in detail and objectively in the analytics. This is the desire to profitably show the remnants of the exhausting forces to their masters in order to obtain a new portion of money and weapons, and an attempt to thin out our battle formations on the main line of confrontation, pulling part of the forces to Kursk and Belgorod, and the temporary informational transformation of treason into victory.
It is necessary to learn a serious lesson from what happened and fulfill what the Chief of Staff V. Gerasimov promised the Supreme Commander-in-Chief - to mercilessly defeat and destroy the enemy.

There is another important political and legal consequence of what happened. From this moment on, the NWO should acquire an openly extraterritorial character. This is no longer just an operation to return our official territories and punish the Nazis. It is possible and necessary to go to the lands of the still existing Ukraine. To Odessa, to Kharkov, to Dnepropetrovsk, to Nikolaev. To Kyiv and beyond. There should be no restrictions in the sense of some recognized borders of the Ukrainian Reich. And now it is possible and necessary to talk about this openly, without embarrassment and diplomatic curtseys. The terrorist operation of the Bandera followers should remove any taboos from this topic. Let everyone, including the British bastards, realize this: we will stop only when we consider it acceptable and profitable for ourselves.

Blessed memory to the dead: military and civilians, all who came under heavy fire from neo-Nazis. The best memory for them is carefully thought-out retribution. Recovery to all the wounded. [Bolded Italics My Emphasis]

IMO, related to the above is the prior context written by Medvedev on 10 July at the end of the NATO Summit, his emphasis:

The conclusion is obvious. We must do everything to ensure that the "irreversible path of Ukraine" to NATO ends either with the disappearance of Ukraine or the disappearance of NATO.

The best outcome would be the disappearance of both. IMO, Russian sentiment will likely swing more in favor of Medvedev’s announced goal of retaking all former Great Russian lands, but at the moment such an aim isn’t reflected on the battlefield. What is reflected in the aim of retaking all the four republics lands, that’s why IMO we haven’t seen any advancement beyond Lugansk, with most effort devoted to Donetsk.

I’m hopeful the fog around the Kursk border will lift by this evening here and a more complete picture can be established.

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