KURSK, October 16. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces are attacking volunteers helping evacuate civilians from the border areas of the Kursk Region for sport, one volunteer named Maria told TASS. Maria’s group assists in the evacuation of civilians from the Korenevo District.

"[The evacuation takes place] in very difficult circumstances. FPV drones hunt us all the time, even though we usually use cars. It seems they do it just for sport at this point - hunting the volunteers. But, thanks to our experience, we operate without casualties. Only the cars are destroyed, but all our people are alive and well," she said.

Maria shared a story of Ukrainian forces trying to attack a civilian car carrying eight civilians with a kamikaze drone in the settlement of Krasnooktyabrskoye.

"We were evacuating Krasnooktyabrskoye, it had been occupied for a very long time. We literally stormed in, covered by reconnaissance troops. We were moving eight people in one car, and this car was attacked by an FPV drone. By some miracle, we swerved just in time, and the drone hit the spot where the car was a moment ago. Thank god, everyone is alright," the volunteer recalled. "[The Ukrainian forces use] drones, they mainly attack us with kamikaze drones. They used chemical weapons, too. […] They also use cluster munitions, but we were not hit by them," Maria added.

A massive Ukrainian attack on the Kursk Region started on August 6. A state of federal emergency has been declared in the region. Residents of border areas are being evacuated to safety.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost over 23,150 servicemen and 158 tanks since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk. The operation to eliminate Ukrainian troops continues.