President Vladimir Putin has replaced the governor of the Kursk region – partly controlled by Ukraine – saying it needs a “crisis” manager, after residents expressed anger over his handling of the incursion.
Ukrainian troops launched a surprise attack on Kursk in August, forcing thousands of people to flee border areas. Ukraine’s military said in November that it controlled 800 square kilometers (310 square miles) of the region.
Putin late Thursday appointed Alexander Khinshtein, a prominent pro-Kremlin lawmaker, as acting governor of Kursk.
“There is a need for crisis management,” Putin said in the meeting with Khinshtein.
“The most important thing is to organize work to help people,” he said.
Acknowledging communication failures, Khinshtein told Putin: “We have to do everything we can so that all residents of the Kursk region fully feel that they are part of our one big country.”
The previous regional head, Alexey Smirnov, became acting governor in May and was inaugurated in September. According to the Kremlin, he left voluntarily and wrote on Telegram that he had a new post.
Smirnov was criticized for his appearance in televised meetings following the invasion, appearing formulaic and lacking a personal touch.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin believed Khinshtein could “better play this role”, denying that there were any “complaints” against Smirnov.
Since August, Kursk locals have taken to social media to express anger over the incursion and the lack of warnings about how to deal with the crisis.
Some people have made video messages appealing to Putin for help, although dissent is rarely shown on official media.
Some residents of Olgovka, about 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the border, said their village looked “like a scene from a horror movie” and “we found ourselves homeless”.
“Some of our fellow villagers were killed, some are missing because the evacuation was not announced and some did not have time to leave,” a village spokesperson said.
At a public meeting last month, former Kursk governor Roman Starovoit, now transport minister, admitted that Russian forces had looted the district under his control after official media blamed Ukrainians.
Starovoit told a Life News journalist on Friday: “I hope (Khinshtein) will have enough experience to organize communications, first of all,” calling it a “shortcoming” of the ousted Smirnov.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
