Kyiv Pushes Offensive as Russia Evacuates Locals From Next-Door Belgorod

Civilians are being evacuated from parts of Russia’s western Belgorod region amid an ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive—now in its sixth day—in the neighboring region of Kursk. “We have [had] an alarming morning,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod’s regional governor, said on Aug. 12. In a social media post, Gladkov referred to continued “enemy activity” on the border of Belgorod’s westernmost Krasnoyaruzhsky district. “To protect the lives and health of our population, we are beginning to move people who live in this district to safer places,” he said. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the cross-border offensive is meant to ratchet up pressure on Russia, which invaded eastern Ukraine in February 2022....