Moscow, Russia
Russia is evacuating residents
from a second border region, as Ukraine continues its surprise week-long
offensive inside the country.Ukrainian serviceman pictured on a military vehicle near the Russian border on Sunday
Some 11,000 people in the
Belgorod region have been moved, Russian state media reported, because of
"enemy action" near the border.
Belgorod lies next to Kursk -
where Ukrainian troops launched their surprise attack into Russian territory
last Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces have since
advanced up to 18 miles (30km) inside Russia - the deepest incursion into the
country since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv claims thousands of
troops are involved.
On Monday morning, residents
in parts of Belgorod - which lies to the south of Kursk - were told not to
panic but that they must evacuate.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav
Gladkov said people from Krasnaya Yaruga district were being moved due to
"enemy activity on the border".
He also said the whole region
was under a missile alert, and told people to shelter in their basements.
But he added he was "sure
that our servicemen will do everything to cope with the threat that has
arisen".
People were also continuing to
be evacuated from Kursk on Monday - with thousands of people told to leave
their homes in the Belovsky district.
Belovsky governor Alexei
Smirnov also issued a missile warning - saying people needed to take shelter in
rooms without windows and with solid walls.
Temporary accommodation has
been prepared, he said.
At the weekend, President
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was taking the war into "the aggressor's
territory".
He acknowledged the attack for
the first time on Saturday night - saying Russia had launched 2,000 attacks
from Kursk this summer and it deserved a response.
A senior Ukrainian official
told the AFP news agency that thousands of troops were engaged in the
operation, far more than the small incursion initially reported by Russian
border guards.
A photo released by Kursk's
government showed people boarding buses to travel to children's camps in the
Moscow region
It marks the biggest
co-ordinated attack on Russian territory by Kyiv's conventional forces.
Russia has so far struggled to
halt the Ukrainian advance, with more than 76,000 people evacuated from the
Kursk region, where a state of emergency has been declared by local
authorities.
Earlier this week, Russian
President Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a "major
provocation".
Some in Russia have questioned
how Ukraine was able to enter the Kursk region - with one pro-Russian war
blogger, Yuri Podolyaka calling the situation "alarming".
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova said a tough response from Russia's armed forces "will not
take long".
Meanwhile, Russian ally
Belarus said it was bolstering its own troop numbers at its border after
claiming Ukraine had entered its airspace with drones.
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