Putin is giving cash to Russians fleeing Ukraine's surprise attack — but only $115

President Vladimir Putin announced a compensation plan for citizens in the Russian region that came under attack by Ukraine.

Russians "who need it" will be eligible for a one-time payout of 10,000 rubles, Putin said during a video call with Kursk's acting governor, Alexey Smirnov, per the Kyiv Post's translation.

That shakes out at about $115.

"Other damage will also need to be assessed," Putin said.

Around 3,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk, the western Russian border region attacked by Ukrainian forces this week, officials have said.

Speaking to Putin, Smirnov said that extra trains were scheduled to take people to temporary housing and that he had set up a telephone helpline. Public sector employees would still get their salary, he added.

To be clear — $115 does not get you far in Russia, even accounting for lower prices there. Russia's statistics body said that, as of 2022, the average monthly salary before tax was just over 71,000 rubles, or about $800.

As of last fall, almost half of Russians said their monthly pay was not covering basics; and under a feverish wartime economy, the country's annual inflation rate hovers above 9%.

Despite earlier assurances from Smirnov that the situation was under control, reports from pro-Kremlin military bloggers suggest that some people experienced disorderly evacuations, the Institute for the Study of War said.

One civilian in Sudzha, a town considered to be a focus of the Ukrainian attack, told the independent Russian outlet Meduza that she fled before any evacuation was organized.

"Judging by the news reports, our town no longer exists," she said.

Images shared by Russian authorities purporting to be from the region show destroyed houses.

Strict instructions were given to state-controlled media to tamp down reporting on the attack, Meduza reported, citing industry insiders.

The full contours of Ukraine's surprise incursion into Kursk remain unclear — but both Western and Russian commentators have said that Russia appears to have been caught on the back foot.

Russia said on Wednesday that Ukraine had committed up to 1,000 troops to the fight, backed by tanks, armored vehicles, and air defenses.

As of Thursday, the ISW assessed that Ukrainian troops had pushed as far as 21 miles into Russian territory, noting that they were unlikely to be controlling territory that far out.

Read the original article on Business Insider