Many of the evacuated residents of southwestern Russia’s Kursk region have not yet received payments promised by President Vladimir Putin over one month into Ukraine’s surprise incursion, the independent news outlet Agentstvo reported Monday, citing regional volunteers.
On Aug. 8, two days after Ukrainian forces crossed into the region and captured settlements there, Putin promised one-time payments of 10,000 rubles ($110) to residents who were forced to evacuate from parts of the embattled region.
Evacuees now encounter rejections when filing for Putin’s payouts on the government e-portal Gosuslugi, Yevgeniya Nazarova, who heads the Kursk region volunteer humanitarian group “Social Navigator,” said in comments to “Walk & Talk,” a pro-Kremlin YouTube channel that covers life in Russia’s regions.
“There’s no consultation, information or interagency interaction whatsoever,” Nazarova said.
“It wasn’t there on the first, second and third week [of the Ukrainian incursion]. And I can tell you now there still isn’t any,” she added.
The interview, which Agentstvo reported on Monday, did not specify the exact number of Kursk region evacuees who have not yet received the payouts.
Around 130,000 people are estimated to have evacuated, 20,000 remain in areas currently under Ukrainian control and almost 700 remain missing in the Kursk region.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry estimated last week that 87,600 Kursk region residents received 1.3 billion rubles overall ($14.3 million) in various compensation payments, which amounts to under 15,000 rubles per person.
