War in Ukraine: drones raining down on Russia, humanitarian corridors, advances in Kursk… an update on the situation

A state of emergency has been declared in Belgorod, Russia. MAXPPP – RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE /HANDOUT

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Wednesday, August 14, 2024, discover the latest news about this conflict.

The state of emergency declared in the Russian region of Belgorod

A state of emergency has been declared in Russia's Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine, due to attacks by Ukrainian forces, the region's governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Wednesday.

“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be very difficult and tense,”, Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video posted on Telegram. Daily shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces has resulted in civilian deaths and injuries, and homes have been destroyed, he added.

"We have therefore decided to declare a state of emergency in the Belgorod region from today, and we call on the government to declare a federal state of emergency."

Ukraine says it is opening humanitarian corridors in Russia's Kursk region

Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it was opening humanitarian corridors in Russia's Kursk border region, on the eighth day of an unprecedented offensive by Kiev's forces into Russian territory that has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee.

“Our military forces plan to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, both to Russia and Ukraine,”, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.

Ukraine wants to create a “buffer zone” in Russia to protect its border population

Ukraine wants to create a “buffer zone”in Russia's Kursk region, where its forces launched an unprecedented offensive on August 6 to protect its border population from Russian shelling, a Ukrainian minister said Wednesday.

“The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a measure to protect our border communities from daily hostile shelling,”, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Telegram.

Ukrainian army continues to advance on Russian soil

Ukrainian army continues to advance in the region Russian border crossing at Kursk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday, the eighth day of an unprecedented offensive that Moscow has vowed to halt.

“We continue to advance in the Kursk region. Since the beginning of the day, we have covered one to two kilometers in different areas,”, Zelensky said on Telegram, while reporting “more than 100 captured Russian servicemen” on Wednesday.

“We are advancing well in the Kursk region, we are achieving our strategic goal,”, the Ukrainian president said in his daily address on social networks.

Rain of drones on the Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its forces intercepted 117 attack drones and four missiles launched by Ukraine overnight toward several Russian regions.

The missiles and 37 drones were destroyed over the Kursk region, where the Ukrainian military has been conducting a dramatic incursion since last week, according to the ministry. 37 drones were also intercepted in the Voronezh region, the ministry added on the Telegram messaging app.

The governor of the Voronezh region had spoken earlier of an attack by 35 Ukrainian drones, which he said did not cause any casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry did not specify the total number of missiles and drones fired by Ukraine.