The Kremlin promises money to the three border regions of Ukraine . A meeting of the government was held with the participation of the three governors - of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions - at which the Russian president ordered the federal authorities to make an estimate for strengthening the security and for compensating the damage. In the information published by the state-run TASS, everything is in the future tense, including the deadlines in which state officials must provide estimates and reports on their work - September 15 and November 15, respectively.
Also, the information does not mention any specific amounts that will be redirected to the three border areas. Since August 6, when the Ukrainian offensive began, the federal authorities have not fully controlled the territory of the Kursk region, and the remaining two regions are in a "border situation" because of frequent shelling and raids. From the decisions taken, no conclusion can be drawn about the Kremlin's intentions and whether it had a plan to regain its control over the entire territory of the Russian Federation.
The Government of the Russian Federation and the executive bodies of the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions will secure with funds from the federal budget the work of territorial defense of the three Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, based on the number of such units, including funding for cash payments of persons included in these parts, taking into account the functions they perform and equipment for such units", the document says.
Furthermore, the President has instructed to ensure interbudgetary transfers from the federal budget to the budgets of the regions to compensate for damage caused to industrial and agricultural enterprises, including those that are small and medium enterprises. The state agency TASS explicitly explains that it is a question of damaged enterprises not only in the course of the counter-terrorist operation, but also because of the shelling of the Ukrainian army and from terrorist acts.
The President has also commissioned to review and prepare a procedure for compensating the costs of paying employees of businesses that have ceased operations. The Cabinet of Ministers was tasked with defining a special regime for carrying out planned and unplanned control activities in the territories where the anti-terrorist operation is conducted.
After the meeting, Putin also instructed to consider the additional need of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions for special transport and, if necessary, to organize its provision. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and the heads of the border regions - Vyacheslav Gladkov, Alexander Bogomaz and Alexey Smirnov - have been appointed responsible for solving all these issues.
Reports on what has been done must be submitted by September 15 - a date that shifts by a week to a month of Ukrainian occupation.
Meanwhile, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced the closure of three more border villages, as "the situation is still not improving in several settlements and tends to worsen". He has instructed the operational headquarters at the next meeting to decide on the complete closure of the settlements of Dronovka and Poroz, Graivoronsky district, and Stari Khutor, Valuysky district.