"Well done, no one flinched, everyone worked"

Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Kursk region for the first time since its complete liberation from the Ukrainian armed forces. During a working visit on May 20, the head of state talked with volunteers who had been helping people since the first days of the Ukrainian Armed Forces invasion, and discussed the situation with representatives of local authorities. Housing rehabilitation remains the main problem for the region. To help solve it, the president instructed to extend the payment of 65,000 rubles to residents whose homes were affected by the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces until they return home. In addition, he approved new support measures for those whose homes have become uninhabitable for other reasons. In general, the situation in the border areas of the Kursk region remains difficult even after the liberation of the territories from the enemy, who is still trying to move towards the Russian border, Putin said.

Putin's trip to Kursk region on May 20

The working day of the head of state on the eve of May 20 passed without public events. It was only on the morning of the 21st that it became known that Vladimir Putin was in the Kursk region for the first time since the region was completely liberated. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the President on the completion of this operation on April 26. Before that, the president came here on March 12: then he held a meeting in a military uniform at one of the control points of the Kursk group of troops.

This time, the head of state's working trip was extensive and took place in more than one city. Vladimir Putin met with volunteers in Kursk at the House of Soviets. Almost 20 people gathered at the table, and the meeting with the head of state came as a surprise to everyone.

— The conversation was fruitful. We were able to talk about our activities, our work, what we do, and our plans for the future. The fact that I had a meeting with the president today is, of course, a guarantee of our stability. His appearance in the Kursk region is a landmark event. They gave us all the floor, there were 19 of us colleagues. Each of us asked our own question and got an answer. The meeting was so unexpected that my throat was already dry," Denis Sychov, head of the Kurchatov branch of the Combat Brotherhood, admitted to Izvestia.

Not only local volunteers gathered in the hall, but also volunteers from new regions, Moscow, Ryazan and other cities. In short, everyone who has not stood aside since the beginning of August and joined in helping the affected population. The participants of the meeting told the president exactly how they helped people — with medicine, resettlement, and the reception of the wounded. The head of state, in turn, asked about the details — how it was possible to deliver medicines, what kind of transport was used and what kind of help was needed from the federal center.

—Well done, no one flinched, everyone worked," he stressed.

Now the task of the volunteers remains to close the heating circuit of the houses, dismantle the rubble and, above all, restore the roof, Vladimir Taranenko, a participant in the meeting, deputy head of the executive committee of the Popular Front, head of the youth team of the Popular Front, told Izvestia. Despite the warming, there is still a need for generators and heating facilities.

— Our assessment of the situation in the region is based on the experience of this work. For example, now in the Bolshesoldatsky district, where we have a considerable amount of work due to the threat of UAV attacks, it is impossible to fully deploy large working groups. The enemy is also attacking areas where volunteers have already provided assistance, so the amount of work is not decreasing yet. Given the number of damaged houses, we can say that the restoration process will take more than one month, and the speed of mine clearance of the liberated territories is also important," Taranenko said.

On this day, the Ministry of Defense announced that in the period from 4.00 to 8.00 Moscow time, six Ukrainian UAVs over the territory of the Kursk region were destroyed by air defense systems on duty. The enemy is still trying to move towards the Russian border, Vladimir Putin said. One of the participants of the meeting also added that the enemy had recently been spotted near the village of Shostka in Sumy region. "We worked in the direction of Shostka, Glukhovo, and sometimes we covered the road to Rylsk, where Krupets is. And today I have a calculation, the guys reported that the settlement of Shostka, up to a hundred enemy manpower and Iskander," Anton Khailov, the first head of the humanitarian mission in the Kursk region from the Young Guard of United Russia, told the president.

Among the participants of the meeting were religious figures, including the rector of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kurchatov, priest Evgeny Karachevtsev. His opening speech lasted almost longer than all the others. The priest told the head of state in detail how evacuation points were promptly organized in the churches. Separately, he shared the story of how, back in 2022, a manufactory for the production of sterile dressing materials and operating room wipes was organized on the territory of the Central Medical District, as the need for them grew.

— You asked at the very beginning how you could help. Of course, there is not enough material. There is a desire, there are people who are ready to help. But there are not enough funds. For example, if a roll of gauze cost 9 thousand rubles in Ivanovo when we started working, today it costs about 17 thousand rubles, almost doubling the cost. Naturally, this is all at our expense of the temples. Grandmothers sew these napkins on old, still Soviet machines, they fold them neatly, all this is practically at their expense," shared Evgeny Karachevtsev.

Vladimir Putin thanked all the clergy of traditional faiths who help on the line of military contact. He also added that he is aware of the losses among the priests in his homeland. "The help of the clergy is always in demand. Both in peacetime and in the hour of severe trials," the head of state said. At a meeting with the heads of municipalities on the same day, Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a separate program for the restoration of churches in the Kursk region affected by the actions of Ukrainian militants. For example, in the Sudzha district there were 15 temples, two chapels, one hermitage and one monastery — almost all objects were damaged by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Among other topics, the volunteers were concerned about the destruction of World War II monuments: they even prepared a special catalog of all desecrated and demolished objects, which they handed over to Vladimir Putin.

— It is clear, it is clear who we are fighting with. If the monuments of the Second World War are being directly destroyed, it is understandable," said the head of the Russian Federation.

He explained: this gives every reason to say that we are talking about people with the ideology of neo-Nazism. "And even in the idiot contest, they would have taken second place. Why? Because they are idiots," Putin said.

During the president's trip to the region, it was also decided to create a federal museum dedicated to the events in the Kursk region in 2024-2025. It could be located in Kursk with a branch office in the city of Sudzha.

When will the residents of the borderlands be able to return home

The meetings of the head of state with local authorities were also informative. In particular, with Alexander Khinstein, the acting governor of the Kursk region. He asked Vladimir Putin not to stop paying 65,000 rubles to residents whose homes were damaged, even though the region was completely liberated. People will not return home while the territory is being cleared, and their safety will not be ensured. The President supported the initiative to extend payments. He also instructed to increase the group of mine clearance in the Kursk region, "so that people can return to their homes as soon as possible."

— The majority of residents still expect to return, because they cannot live in foreign lands. I am constantly in touch with my fellow countrymen, I know almost all the people who have suffered. Many are waiting. We can't enter these territories today because, you know... We were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Victory, and we were at Mamayev Kurgan, where they told us: "Not even grass grew there," because everything was littered with metal. This is about the situation in the Sudzhansky district today: a lot of territories are mined, and no one will allow you to risk your life," Olga Germanova, a State Duma deputy from the Kursk region, told Izvestia.

Alexander Khinshtein raised another problematic issue: while the owners of the affected houses receive financial assistance, there remains another category of buildings that were not directly damaged, but suffered indirectly. These houses were abandoned by residents during the evacuation, and fell into disrepair over the winter — they were thawed, they were destroyed or other impacts, which made it impossible to live in them. In this regard, the acting governor proposed to allocate assistance from the budget — 9 thousand rubles per 1 sq. m. The President also supported this initiative.

Housing issues also worried the heads of municipalities of the Kursk region, with whom Vladimir Putin talked for more than an hour in Kurchatov. One of the participants of the meeting spoke about the residents of the border region who lost their mortgage housing due to the attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Central Bank has already recommended commercial banks to repay the debt. "Insurance companies repay their mortgage loans for residents. But there is a problem: Not all insurance companies have joined in yet. I hope that all this will be resolved in the near future," said Alexey Klemeshov, the mayor of Lgov.

The President asked to clarify which companies provided mortgage insurance, but did not cancel payments for residents, and promised to find out if there were problems with mortgage closures by banks and insurance companies for residents of the Kursk region who had lost their property. Putin also supported the idea of extending the special economic zone regime to the entire territory of the region. He called on the Cabinet of Ministers to find a solution so that businesses from other regions of the country would re-register in the Kursk region and enjoy benefits.

— It is clear that there is always not enough money and there is not enough, first of all, where they are needed, right in the field, as they say. Let's talk about this and keep in mind, of course, the situation in which the Kursk region and its individual regions are located. Even after the liberation of these border regions from the enemy, the situation there remains difficult," the head of state stressed.

He ordered that municipal figures of the Kursk region who have made a special contribution to the normalization of the situation in the region be presented with state awards. Also, during his trip to the region, Vladimir Putin visited the NPP-2 under construction.