ReutersUkraine’s top military commander said Kiev forces had seized control of 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in the biggest border incursion in two and a half years of full-scale warfare.
Commander Oleksandr Sirsky said Ukraine was “continuing its offensive operations in the Kursk region seven days after they began.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia brought war to other countries, and now war is coming back to Russia.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin called the offensive a “grave provocation” and ordered Russian forces to “drive the enemy from our territory.”
The number of people being evacuated from western Russia for safety reasons is increasing, with 59,000 people ordered to evacuate.
The regional governor said about 28 villages in the region had fallen to Ukrainian forces, 12 civilians had been killed and “the situation remains difficult.”
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack last Tuesday, advancing 18 miles (30 kilometers) into Russia.
The offensive is said to have boosted morale among Ukrainian forces, but analysts say the strategy could pose new risks to Ukraine.
A senior British military source, who asked not to be named, told the BBC that Moscow was so angered by the incursion that there was a risk it would redouble its attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
“One of the enemy’s obvious goals is to foment discord and conflict, to intimidate people, to destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society,” Putin said in comments broadcast on state television on Monday.
“The most important task of the Department of Defense is, of course, to drive the enemy out of our territory,” he told a meeting of civil servants.
The region’s governor said 121,000 people had been evacuated from their homes. He told Putin that about 2,000 Russian citizens remained in areas occupied by Ukrainian forces.
“We don’t know anything about their fate,” he said.
He warned people to take cover from missiles in rooms with no windows and strong walls.
About 11,000 people were also asked to leave Belgorod, a region next to Kursk. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said people from the Krasnaya Yaruga district were being relocated “because of enemy activity on the border.”
He issued a similar missile warning and told people to take shelter in their basements.
The Ukrainian president acknowledged the offensive in an evening speech, saying: “If Putin wants to fight so badly, Russia will have no choice but to make peace.”
“Russia brought war to other countries, and now it is coming back. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will definitely ensure peace,” Mr. Zelensky added.
Ukrainian officials say there are far more troops involved in the operation than initially reported by Russian border guards as a small incursion.
Their goal is “to cause maximum damage and destabilise the situation in Russia,” one official told AFP.
During a meeting with President Zelensky in Kiev on Monday, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham called the cross-border operation “brilliant” and “bold” and urged the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs.
Some within Russia have questioned how Ukraine was able to enter the Kursk region, with pro-Russian war blogger Yuri Podolyakha describing the situation as “astonishing.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Russian military would respond strongly and that “it won’t take long.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s ally Belarus said it was increasing its troops on its border after Ukraine claimed its airspace was violated by drones.
