The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working on the mechanism for the return to Russia of the 23 citizens taken from the Kursk Region to Ukraine's Sumy Region, the ICRC office in Moscow told Sputnik.
On Friday, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said that the whereabouts of 23 Russians from the Kursk Region had been identified in the Sumy region, adding that she was keeping in touch with the ICRC and Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets on the mechanism for their return to Russia.
"The ICRC is working on it. The ICRC delegation in Moscow is in contact with Ms. Moskalkova," the office said.
Ukrainian forces launched an offensive in the Kursk Region on August 6. Their advance was halted, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said, adding that Russia's operation in the region would be completed by defeating the enemy and reaching the border. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine had lost more than 20,800 troops and 136 tanks in the fighting in the Kursk direction. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the move a large-scale provocation aimed at civilians and vowed a proper response.