Kyiv [Ukraine], February 2: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of bombing its own civilians in the Kursk region, who were sheltering in a boarding school. Zelenskyy claimed that Russia dropped an aerial bomb on the school while civilians were still preparing to evacuate.
In a post on X on Saturday (local time), Zelenskyy wrote, “This is how Russia wages war–Sudzha, Kursk region, Russian territory, a boarding school with civilians preparing to evacuate. A Russian aerial bomb. They destroyed the building even though dozens of civilians were there.”
He added, “This is how Russia waged war against Chechnya decades ago. They killed Syrians the same way. Russian bombs destroy Ukrainian homes the same way. And even against their own civilians, the Russian army uses similar tactics.”
According to CNN, Ukraine has made advancements in Kursk, as reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank on January 26. However, the Russian Military claimed that it had recaptured the region.
On Saturday, Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine, killing at least 12 people, as reported by Al Jazeera. Ukraine’s air force claimed to have shot down 56 drones and redirected 61.
In a separate incident, Ukraine’s Emergency Services confirmed that a missile strike on a residential building in the central city of Poltava killed eight people, including a child, and injured 17.
Additionally, a Ukrainian Military official reported on Friday that North Korean forces had probably withdrawn from the frontlines in Russia’s Kursk region after suffering heavy losses. Colonel Oleksandr Kindratenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, stated that North Korean troops had not been observed on the battlefront for the past three weeks. He added, “The presence of DPRK troops has not been observed for about three weeks, and they were probably forced to withdraw after suffering heavy losses.”