120,000 RUSSIANS DISPLACED
At an Orthodox church in the centre of Sumy, the regional hub across the border from Kursk, dozens of mourners gathered Thursday to pay their final respects to six Ukrainian servicemen killed since Kyiv launched its offensive.
Tearful family members of the victims received a steady stream of friends and relatives wearing black and clutching wreaths as the priest intoned a funeral mass and incense hung in the air.
“It is hard to say goodbye to them, because we want them to live forever, to live among us as honoured sons of their homeland,” the priest told mourners.
“Our task is to pray for our heroic fighters and their families.”
Pallbearers lifted the coffins one by one for burial as a choir sang hymns in harmony. Air raid sirens echoed over Sumy as the service ended.
In Kursk, AFP reporters saw around 500 evacuees from border areas queueing for food and clothes being distributed by the Russian Red Cross.
Russia says over 120,000 people have left or been evacuated.
Source: CNA
