KURCHATOV /Kursk Region/, May 21. /TASS/. The people who were forced to temporarily leave Russia’s border Kursk Region amid an incursion by the Ukrainian army will surely return home but a mine-clearance operation needs to be carried out first, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the region’s municipal leaders on May 20.
Responding to a remark by one of the meeting’s participants that many "are looking forward to going back home, to the historical land," Putin said: "That’s the way it will be."
The president pointed out that he had addressed the issue at meetings both in Moscow and during his trip to the Kursk Region. "However, security has to be ensured. This is first and foremost about mine clearance, primarily in residential areas," the head of state stressed.
Putin announced plans to expand the team of deminers in order to accelerate the work. "We will make every effort to do it as soon as possible," he added.