Russia expands evacuation of people to the second border region

Russia is evacuating civilians from a second border post, as Ukraine continues its week-long siege of the country.

About 11,000 people in the Belgorod region have been evacuated, Russian state media said, due to “enemy action” near the border.

Belgorod lies near Kursk – where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack on Russian territory last Tuesday.

Ukrainian troops have since advanced as far as 18 miles (30km) inside Russia – the deepest incursion into the country since Moscow invaded Ukraine in full. Kyiv says thousands of soldiers are involved.

On Monday morning, residents in parts of Belgorod – which is south of Kursk – were told not to panic but to evacuate.

Governor of Belgorod Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the people of Krasnaya Yaruga region are being evacuated because of “enemy activities on the border”.

But he added that “he is sure that our military will do everything to deal with the threat that has emerged”.

People were still being evacuated from Kursk on Monday – thousands of people were 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 shelters have been prepared, he said.

Over the weekend, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine was taking the war into “the territory of the aggressors”.

He admitted to the first attack on Saturday night – saying that Russia has launched 2,000 attacks from Kursk this summer and deserves a response.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP news agency that thousands of soldiers were involved in the operation, far more than the small incident reported by Russian border guards.

It marks a major coordinated attack on Russian territory by Kyiv’s regular forces.

Russia has so far struggled to stop the Ukrainian advance, as more than 76,000 people were evacuated from the Kursk region, where a state of emergency was declared by local authorities.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the move as a “big move”.

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 “horrifying”.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said a tough response from the Russian military “will not take long”.

Meanwhile, Russia’s ally Belarus said it was beefing up the number of troops on its border after Ukraine invaded its territory with drones.