UN asks Moscow for access to under-fire border areas

GENEVA

The United Nations rights office said on Thursday that it has asked Moscow to allow it to visit Russian border regions affected by a cross-border attack by Ukrainian forces.

"I can confirm that the U.N. Human Rights Office has sent a request to the Russian authorities to facilitate access by the Office to areas of the Russian Federation affected by the hostilities, including Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions, further to our human rights monitoring and assessment mandate," Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in an email to AFP.

The request was sent on Aug. 14.

The Ukrainian army entered the Kursk region on Aug. 6, capturing dozens of settlements in the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II and forcing thousands to flee.

Ukrinian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 14 that Ukrainian troops had "advanced well" in the Kursk region.

"Today we have advanced well in the Kursk region. We are achieving our strategic goal," Zelensky said in his evening address.

He had also spoken of gains of "one to two kilometers in different areas since the beginning of the day" in a social media post earlier on Aug. 14.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko has said that Ukraine intends to create a "buffer zone" in the region to prevent Russian cross-border strikes.

"The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily hostile shelling," he said.

An AFP analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicated Ukrainian troops had advanced over an area of at least 800 square kilometers of Russia as of Aug. 13.

Russia said it had repelled Ukrainian attempts to push further into five areas of Kursk.

"The attempts by enemy mobile units using armoured equipment to break through deeper into Russian territory have been repelled," its Defense Ministry said.

The offensive has forced thousands to flee the region of Kursk.

More than 120,000 Russians have fled their homes in Kursk's border areas, with the region's governor announcing late on Aug. 14 that another district had been evacuated.

Ukraine said it would "open humanitarian corridors" for civilians in the captured territory so they can evacuate towards Russia or Ukraine.

It also said it would let "international humanitarian organizations" into the area and that it had opened a hotline for Russians who want to be evacuated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to "dislodge" Ukrainian troops from Russian territory, accusing the neighbor of using the operation to "improve its negotiating position" in any future talks.