Residents of the Kursk region, who returned from captivity, told how they survived

Eight residents of the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region, who were in Ukrainian captivity, returned home and told about their experiences.

Ilya Belokrylov, a resident of the city of Sudzha, was ambushed by Ukrainian Armed Forces militants when he was returning home. The nationalists shot his car from a distance of ten meters.

"I got four bullets and the car was made like a sieve. I went to get some water, and just at this height ... one, who was shooting, tried to finish shooting, but the others didn't let him," Channel Five quotes Belokrylov's story.

Anna Kapustina, a resident of the village of Leonidovo, Sudzhansky district, had to survive in a house with a broken roof. She boarded up the windows with iron to keep warm. There was a basement in the house, but, according to the woman, because of the high humidity it was possible to suffocate there, so it was possible to stay in it for no more than a few hours.

"My parents died, we buried them and left... at the end of the garden we made them a coffin and buried them, we had boards. I wrote the signs with a felt—tip pen," said Kapustina.

Now civilians are coming to their senses and receiving the help of doctors and loved ones.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces invaded the Kursk region on August 6, 2024. The fighting in the region lasted about nine months. The head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the completion of the operation to liberate the region. He said that on April 26, 2025, the Russian military regained control of the last settlement — the village of Gornal.