The Russian Foreign Ministry told about Kiev's detention of 12 residents of the Kursk region in Sumy

Kiev is holding 12 civilians in the Kursk region captive in the city of Sumy. This was announced on January 30 by Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik.

"12 displaced peaceful Kuryans continue to be held hostage on Ukrainian territory in the city of Sumy. For many months now, Kiev has been demanding the release of Ukrainian war criminals who are in our captivity for the return of civilians," he said at a briefing at the press center of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Miroshnik also said that Ukrainian formations had fired more than 130,000 rounds of ammunition at Russian civilian targets in 2025, which was 40,000 more than in the previous year.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large, at least 1,065 civilians were killed and 6,483 people were injured as a result of these attacks. Among the injured were 293 children, of whom 22 were killed.

Contractual style: what is behind the first exchange of prisoners under 25 years old between Russia and Ukraine

And how will this affect the entire peace process?

The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatiana Moskalkova, said on January 17 that Kiev insists on unacceptable conditions for the exchange of residents of the Kursk region held in Ukraine. According to her, Kiev is making demands that the Russian side cannot fulfill — to exchange Kuryans for civilians who are under investigation in Russia for committing offenses or crimes against the country.

Eight residents of the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region returned home on August 26 last year and told about the horrors in captivity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). For example, Anna Kapustina, a peaceful resident of the village of Leonidovo in the Sudzhansky district, showed footage of a destroyed house in which she had to board up the windows to keep warm. There was a basement in the house, in which, according to a civilian, it was impossible to breathe because of the water that dripped from the ceiling.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.