Russians evacuate Kursk region due to suspected incursion into Ukraine

Thousands of people have fled their homes in Russia’s Kursk region after Russian defense officials said about 300 Ukrainian troops crossed into the border province on Tuesday.

Fighting is reportedly continuing in the region, as Moscow said troops backed by 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured fighting vehicles crossed the border near the town of Sudja, 10 km from the front line.

Fighting reportedly broke out in several villages in Russian territory on Tuesday, followed by Ukrainian airstrikes that killed three civilians and continued into the night, Russian authorities said.

kyiv officials have yet to comment on the Russian allegations.

Twenty-four people, including six children, were injured in Ukrainian shelling in the border region, Moscow said.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have prevented Ukrainian armed forces from advancing “deep into Russian territory” in the Kursk region and said it had destroyed several Ukrainian drones overnight.

However, a number of air raid warnings continued to be issued in Kursk, where local authorities urged residents to limit their movements and all public events were cancelled.

Footage posted online – and verified by the BBC – showed fighter jets flying low over the area on Tuesday, with smoke rising from areas on the ground.

Acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov said he had informed Russian President Vladimir Putin of the situation, which he said was under control.

Mr Smirnov also said that several thousand people had been evacuated from the attacked areas of the region and added that doctors from Moscow and St Petersburg were on their way to offer help.

kyiv has not yet commented on the reports of the events in Kursk.

Ukrainian army colonel Vladislav Seleznyov told Nexta channel that the attack was “preemptive” as around 75,000 Russian troops continued to gather near the border.

After a major cross-border incursion by Russia into the northeastern Kharkiv region in May, there were fears that Moscow would attempt the same in the Sumy region further north.

While Ukraine now appears to have captured several settlements and highways in the other direction, those ambitions may well have been thwarted, for now.

But with Ukrainian forces already overwhelmed and understaffed, some military analysts question the wisdom of such cross-border raids.

This is not the first incursion into Russia by Ukraine-based militants. Some groups of anti-Kremlin Russians launched raids last year that were repelled.

In March, the armed forces again entered the Belgorod and Kursk regions, where they were involved in clashes with Russian security forces.