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Russia is evacuating residents from a second border region as Ukraine continues its week-long surprise offensive inside Russia.
According to Russian state media, about 11,000 people in the Belgorod region were forced to relocate due to “enemy actions” near the border.
Belgorod is located next to Kursk – from which Ukrainian troops launched a surprise attack on Russian territory last Tuesday.
Ukrainian troops have advanced 18 miles (30 kilometers) into Russian territory – Moscow’s deepest incursion into the country since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in which Kiev claims thousands of troops are involved.
On Monday morning, residents in parts of Belgorod, south of Kursk, were told not to panic but to evacuate.
Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said residents of the Krasnaya Ruga district were being relocated due to “enemy activities on the border.”
He also said the entire area was under missile alert and told people to hide in basements.
But he added that he was “confident that our men and women in uniform will do everything they can to meet the threats that have emerged.”
The evacuation of Kursk continued on Monday, with thousands of people told to leave their homes in the Belovsky district.
Belovsky Governor Alexey Smirnov also issued a missile warning, saying people needed to take shelter in windowless rooms with solid walls.
He said temporary accommodation has been prepared.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was taking the war into the “territory of the aggressor.”
He acknowledged the attack for the first time Saturday night — and said Russia had launched 2,000 strikes from the Kursk this summer that deserved a response.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that thousands of troops were involved in the operation, far exceeding the small incursion initially reported by Russian border guards.
HandoutsPhotos released by the Kursk government show people boarding buses to a children’s camp in the Moscow region
This was the largest coordinated attack by Kiev’s conventional forces on Russian territory.
Russia, which has so far struggled to halt the Ukrainian army advance, has evacuated more than 76,000 people from the Kursk region, where the government has declared a state of emergency.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a “major provocation.”
Some Russians have questioned how Ukraine was able to gain access to the Kursk region, with pro-Russian war blogger Yuri Podolyaka calling the situation “worrying.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said a tough response from the Russian armed forces “won’t take long.”
Meanwhile, Russian ally Belarus said it was increasing troop levels on its border after it claimed Ukraine had used drones to enter its airspace.
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