04:33Circus animal trainer Carlos Bresciani, who arrived in Kursk with his touring troupe earlier this month, described how they had refused to leave the area and had been assisting evacuated residents following the incursion by Ukraine last week.
Footage taken between August 6-13 shows Bresciani, originally from Guatemala, carrying humanitarian aid into the temporary accommodation centre set up on the circus site, as well as tigers, lions and an elephant in their enclosures.
"We were working on the 3rd and 4th [of August] and had planned a performance for the 8th [of August]. However, as this unpleasant incident woke us up on August 6, all performances were cancelled and we were asked to evacuate and move to another city or anywhere we would be safe. <…> I could have left that very day, that very night. But I decided to stay to face an unjust situation which seems to me neither brave nor fair," Bresciani stated.
He added that he chose to stay and help with the evacuation after seeing older people and children arriving at the centre.
"I am surprised by the amount of aid received, because the way Russians have responded and helped their compatriots was incredible," he added. "This country has given me a lot. I have been working here for over eight years. My children grew up here, so they think like Russians, they speak Russian, this country is what I love and what I am ready to fight for, risking my own life," he said.
According to reports, Ukrainian forces entered Kursk region on August 6, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called a 'large-scale provocation'.
Putin met with governors of Russia's border regions on Monday. According to the Kursk region's acting government, 12 people were killed, 121 wounded, including 10 children, in the attack.
Kursk's acting governor also claimed that "28 settlements are under the enemy's control. The depth of penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometres. The width along the front is 40 kilometres."
A counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on August 9, while around 121,000 people have been evacuated from the Kursk border districts.
On Tuesday, AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky claimed that Ukrainian forces controlled '74 settlements', having previously stated that his forces had '1,000 square kilometres' of Russian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as 'purely [a] security issue for Ukraine'.
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.
'Circus opened its doors' - Guatemalan animal trainer helps evacuated Kursk locals amid Ukrainian incursion
Circus animal trainer Carlos Bresciani, who arrived in Kursk with his touring troupe earlier this month, described how they had refused to leave the area and had been assisting evacuated residents following the incursion by Ukraine last week.
Footage taken between August 6-13 shows Bresciani, originally from Guatemala, carrying humanitarian aid into the temporary accommodation centre set up on the circus site, as well as tigers, lions and an elephant in their enclosures.
"We were working on the 3rd and 4th [of August] and had planned a performance for the 8th [of August]. However, as this unpleasant incident woke us up on August 6, all performances were cancelled and we were asked to evacuate and move to another city or anywhere we would be safe. <…> I could have left that very day, that very night. But I decided to stay to face an unjust situation which seems to me neither brave nor fair," Bresciani stated.
He added that he chose to stay and help with the evacuation after seeing older people and children arriving at the centre.
"I am surprised by the amount of aid received, because the way Russians have responded and helped their compatriots was incredible," he added. "This country has given me a lot. I have been working here for over eight years. My children grew up here, so they think like Russians, they speak Russian, this country is what I love and what I am ready to fight for, risking my own life," he said.
According to reports, Ukrainian forces entered Kursk region on August 6, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called a 'large-scale provocation'.
Putin met with governors of Russia's border regions on Monday. According to the Kursk region's acting government, 12 people were killed, 121 wounded, including 10 children, in the attack.
Kursk's acting governor also claimed that "28 settlements are under the enemy's control. The depth of penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometres. The width along the front is 40 kilometres."
A counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on August 9, while around 121,000 people have been evacuated from the Kursk border districts.
On Tuesday, AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky claimed that Ukrainian forces controlled '74 settlements', having previously stated that his forces had '1,000 square kilometres' of Russian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as 'purely [a] security issue for Ukraine'.
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.
Circus animal trainer Carlos Bresciani, who arrived in Kursk with his touring troupe earlier this month, described how they had refused to leave the area and had been assisting evacuated residents following the incursion by Ukraine last week.
Footage taken between August 6-13 shows Bresciani, originally from Guatemala, carrying humanitarian aid into the temporary accommodation centre set up on the circus site, as well as tigers, lions and an elephant in their enclosures.
"We were working on the 3rd and 4th [of August] and had planned a performance for the 8th [of August]. However, as this unpleasant incident woke us up on August 6, all performances were cancelled and we were asked to evacuate and move to another city or anywhere we would be safe. <…> I could have left that very day, that very night. But I decided to stay to face an unjust situation which seems to me neither brave nor fair," Bresciani stated.
He added that he chose to stay and help with the evacuation after seeing older people and children arriving at the centre.
"I am surprised by the amount of aid received, because the way Russians have responded and helped their compatriots was incredible," he added. "This country has given me a lot. I have been working here for over eight years. My children grew up here, so they think like Russians, they speak Russian, this country is what I love and what I am ready to fight for, risking my own life," he said.
According to reports, Ukrainian forces entered Kursk region on August 6, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called a 'large-scale provocation'.
Putin met with governors of Russia's border regions on Monday. According to the Kursk region's acting government, 12 people were killed, 121 wounded, including 10 children, in the attack.
Kursk's acting governor also claimed that "28 settlements are under the enemy's control. The depth of penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometres. The width along the front is 40 kilometres."
A counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on August 9, while around 121,000 people have been evacuated from the Kursk border districts.
On Tuesday, AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky claimed that Ukrainian forces controlled '74 settlements', having previously stated that his forces had '1,000 square kilometres' of Russian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as 'purely [a] security issue for Ukraine'.
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.