The mayor of the southwestern Kursk region’s capital city announced Monday that he was stepping down from office due to family reasons.
“I made a difficult decision to resign as head of the city at my own request due to family circumstances,” Kursk Mayor Igor Kutsak said at a regional government meeting, according to the local broadcaster 46tv.ru.
The Kursk city council is expected to formally approve his resignation later this week, local media reported.
Acting Kursk region Governor Alexander Khinshtein said he had tried — but failed — to convince Kutsak, who has served as mayor since February 2022, to remain in office.
The city of Kursk, home to more than 450,000 people, lies roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border with northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region.
Kutsak drew criticism last July after urging residents to clean up the city’s bomb shelters following complaints over their poor condition amid frequent drone and artillery strikes.
In August, Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into the Kursk region, capturing up to 1,376 square kilometers (531 square miles) of Russian territory.
A recent Russian counteroffensive has pushed most Ukrainian forces out, though Ukraine continues to control just over 63 square kilometers (24 square miles), according to the open-source tracker DeepState.
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