Putin says displaced Kursk residents to return home safely

Moscow, May 21 Displaced residents of Russia's Kursk region will be able to return home safely despite ongoing challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said during his visit to the region.

The President assured that citizens that have been temporarily displaced following Ukraine's incursion into the region would return home, noting that it is important to ensure security by demining populated areas, local media reported Wednesday, citing the Russian leader during a meeting with local officials.

During his work visit on Tuesday, Putin met with representatives from volunteer organisations and held a meeting with acting governor of the Kursk region Alexander Khinshtein, Xinhua news agency reported. The Russian leader also toured the construction site of Kursk-2 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and met with municipal leaders.

The President backed a proposal to extend the special economic zone to the entire Kursk region. He also approved funds to restore damaged homes in the region, and agreed to continue monthly payments to citizens who have been temporarily displaced.

"We have shown the whole world ... and primarily ourselves that we are a united people. In times of hardship, this unity becomes especially clear," Putin said.

In August 2024, the Ukrainian army launched an offensive into Russia's southern Kursk region. On April 26, Putin announced that Russia had regained full control of the region.

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, in his last month's report to President Vladimir Putin on regaining control of the Kursk region, had commended the role of North Korean troops in the Kursk campaign.

"I want specially to note the participation of servicemen of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ... who in accordance with the Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our countries rendered considerable assistance," Gerasimov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.

On April 28, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced that its military operations in Russia's Kursk region "were victoriously concluded," marking the first official confirmation of its miliary involvement.

Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, decided to send armed forces to Russia as "the prevailing situation was conformed to the invocation of Article 4 of the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership" between the two countries, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on April 28, citing a statement from the Central Military Commission of the WPK.

The military activities "conducted within the boundary of the Russian Federation fully conform to all the provisions and the spirit of the UN Charter and other international laws," according to the statement.

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