Almost 50 Russian civilians who were forcibly taken into Ukraine during the Kursk offensive have been returned to their home country.
Forty-six Russians, who were living in Kursk when the Ukrainian military invaded the region during a push into Russian territory in August, have been returned to Russia following a series of negotiations between Kyiv and the Russian commissioner for human rights, Tatyana Moskalkova.
Moskalkova confirmed that the civilians, including 12 children, had been returned to Russia via Belarus in a post on social media service Telegram. She did not confirm where in Russia the civilians would be returning to as large parts of the Kursk region remain close to the fighting.
Moskalkova said the International Committee of the Red Cross helped during the negotiation process, along with the Belarus government. Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has continually supported the invasion of Ukraine.
"Today, 46 residents of the Kursk region returned to Russia from Ukraine as a result of a negotiation process with the Ukrainian side," Moskalkova said.
Newsweek contacted the Russian Ministry of Defence via email for comment on this story.
Alexei Smirnov, a local governor for the Sudzhansky District in Russia, which was partially captured by Ukrainian forces in the offensive, also praised the return.
"The painstaking and lengthy negotiations to return our fellow countrymen to their homeland have brought results," he said on Telegram.
The successful negotiations come as Russia and Ukraine continue to heighten tensions in the wake of a change in U.S. policy over how Ukraine can use long-range missiles.
After President Joe Biden authorized strikes within Russian territory, Ukraine immediately used missiles supplied by the U.K. to target areas behind enemy lines, well within the Russian border.
The Kursk offensive saw the Ukrainian army push into Russian territory along its northern border, forcing Russia to deprioritize combat along the eastern border, where most of the fighting had taken place prior to this.
Ukrainian forces remain in Kursk, with the Kremlin dedicating additional resources to the area in order to force them back into Ukraine. NATO intelligence believes that Putin will try to recapture all the territory lost to Ukraine before Trump's inauguration on January 20, according to a British defense assessment seen by The Telegraph.
Russian officials accused the Ukrainian military of forcibly relocating over 1,000 civilians during the offensive, which forced more than 152,000 people to leave their homes.
According to The Moscow Times, over 30,000 people from areas along the Russian border and annexed Ukrainian territories are currently being housed in almost a thousand temporary shelters across Russia.
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