06:26Maria Skrob, from the Kursk region's Korenevsky district , is using a volunteer chat room to organise the evacuation of residents of border villages in the area and the delivery of humanitarian aid to settlements under shelling.
Footage, filmed on Saturday, shows volunteers delivering food, basic necessities and water to pensioners who refused to leave their homes. The video also features destroyed buildings, damaged cars and burnt out properties.
Volunteer Ivan noted that he found himself in Maria Skrob's chat room by chance: his wife added him there after the man helped a fellow villager evacuate to Kursk region's Rylsk.
"I saw a lot of missed messages from this group with addresses of people who needed help, who needed to be evacuated. I got in my car and drove from Rylsk back to Korenevo. I made five round trips on the first day. On each trip, I evacuated four people. And in the following days, I don't know, a week, maybe a little less, I made about five or six trips a day," Ivan recalled.
For her part, Maria Skrob stressed that the evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid was taking place 'under constant shelling'.
"Dangerous, very dangerous. Drones flew into us, and in front of us, and our cars crashed because of them, but they [volunteers] always say: well, so what? We're going anyway. We have grandparents there, we have people there waiting for us," Skrob said.
Maria added that one of the volunteers once came under mortar fire.
"I don't know if his guardian angel saved him, but he got out after 24 hours. He jumped out of the car, and got out. We found him 24 hours later, he is now in hospital with injuries, but thank God he is all right," the volunteer said.
Elena, another resident of Korenovo, stated that she was unable to evacuate as she was unwilling to leave her 87-year-old mother unaccompanied.
"Where to, where to, old people? Where are we needed? <...> I've put out fires as well, I've buried dogs, and I've treated injured people. Oh, it's a nightmare. Absolutely terrible. No time to rest. You are exhausted, you fall asleep, wake up, and they bomb again," Elena admitted.
Ukraine launched the offensive into Kursk on August 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a 'large-scale provocation', accusing Kiev of "firing indiscriminately using various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances." Ukraine has previously denied targeting civilians during the ongoing conflict.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said that Kiev's use of Washington's military equipment for the attack was 'not in violation of our policy'.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'Drones flew into us, in front of us' - Volunteers deliver aid to residents of Kursk region near Russia-Ukraine border
Maria Skrob, from the Kursk region's Korenevsky district , is using a volunteer chat room to organise the evacuation of residents of border villages in the area and the delivery of humanitarian aid to settlements under shelling.
Footage, filmed on Saturday, shows volunteers delivering food, basic necessities and water to pensioners who refused to leave their homes. The video also features destroyed buildings, damaged cars and burnt out properties.
Volunteer Ivan noted that he found himself in Maria Skrob's chat room by chance: his wife added him there after the man helped a fellow villager evacuate to Kursk region's Rylsk.
"I saw a lot of missed messages from this group with addresses of people who needed help, who needed to be evacuated. I got in my car and drove from Rylsk back to Korenevo. I made five round trips on the first day. On each trip, I evacuated four people. And in the following days, I don't know, a week, maybe a little less, I made about five or six trips a day," Ivan recalled.
For her part, Maria Skrob stressed that the evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid was taking place 'under constant shelling'.
"Dangerous, very dangerous. Drones flew into us, and in front of us, and our cars crashed because of them, but they [volunteers] always say: well, so what? We're going anyway. We have grandparents there, we have people there waiting for us," Skrob said.
Maria added that one of the volunteers once came under mortar fire.
"I don't know if his guardian angel saved him, but he got out after 24 hours. He jumped out of the car, and got out. We found him 24 hours later, he is now in hospital with injuries, but thank God he is all right," the volunteer said.
Elena, another resident of Korenovo, stated that she was unable to evacuate as she was unwilling to leave her 87-year-old mother unaccompanied.
"Where to, where to, old people? Where are we needed? <...> I've put out fires as well, I've buried dogs, and I've treated injured people. Oh, it's a nightmare. Absolutely terrible. No time to rest. You are exhausted, you fall asleep, wake up, and they bomb again," Elena admitted.
Ukraine launched the offensive into Kursk on August 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a 'large-scale provocation', accusing Kiev of "firing indiscriminately using various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances." Ukraine has previously denied targeting civilians during the ongoing conflict.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said that Kiev's use of Washington's military equipment for the attack was 'not in violation of our policy'.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Maria Skrob, from the Kursk region's Korenevsky district , is using a volunteer chat room to organise the evacuation of residents of border villages in the area and the delivery of humanitarian aid to settlements under shelling.
Footage, filmed on Saturday, shows volunteers delivering food, basic necessities and water to pensioners who refused to leave their homes. The video also features destroyed buildings, damaged cars and burnt out properties.
Volunteer Ivan noted that he found himself in Maria Skrob's chat room by chance: his wife added him there after the man helped a fellow villager evacuate to Kursk region's Rylsk.
"I saw a lot of missed messages from this group with addresses of people who needed help, who needed to be evacuated. I got in my car and drove from Rylsk back to Korenevo. I made five round trips on the first day. On each trip, I evacuated four people. And in the following days, I don't know, a week, maybe a little less, I made about five or six trips a day," Ivan recalled.
For her part, Maria Skrob stressed that the evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid was taking place 'under constant shelling'.
"Dangerous, very dangerous. Drones flew into us, and in front of us, and our cars crashed because of them, but they [volunteers] always say: well, so what? We're going anyway. We have grandparents there, we have people there waiting for us," Skrob said.
Maria added that one of the volunteers once came under mortar fire.
"I don't know if his guardian angel saved him, but he got out after 24 hours. He jumped out of the car, and got out. We found him 24 hours later, he is now in hospital with injuries, but thank God he is all right," the volunteer said.
Elena, another resident of Korenovo, stated that she was unable to evacuate as she was unwilling to leave her 87-year-old mother unaccompanied.
"Where to, where to, old people? Where are we needed? <...> I've put out fires as well, I've buried dogs, and I've treated injured people. Oh, it's a nightmare. Absolutely terrible. No time to rest. You are exhausted, you fall asleep, wake up, and they bomb again," Elena admitted.
Ukraine launched the offensive into Kursk on August 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a 'large-scale provocation', accusing Kiev of "firing indiscriminately using various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances." Ukraine has previously denied targeting civilians during the ongoing conflict.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said that Kiev's use of Washington's military equipment for the attack was 'not in violation of our policy'.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.