Farkhund Yousafzai
Moscow, 12 August 2024 (TDI): Russia is evacuating residents from a second border region, as Ukraine continues its surprise offensive inside the country.
Some 11,000 residents in the Belgorod region have been moved, Russian state media reported, due to “enemy action” near the border.
Belgorod lies next to Kursk – where Ukrainian forces launched their surprise attack into Russian territory last Tuesday.
Ukrainian troops have since advanced up to eighteen miles inside Russia – the deepest incursion into the country since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv claims thousands of forces are involved.
On Monday morning, people in parts of Belgorod – which lies to the south of Kursk – were instructed not to panic but that they must evacuate.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said people from Krasnaya Yaruga district were being evacuated due to “enemy activity on the border”.
Russia widens evacuations to second border region after Ukraine offensive https://t.co/GwbqJhhnl2
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 12, 2024
He said that the whole region was under a missile alert, and asked people to shelter in their basements.
But the governor added that he was sure that Russian forces will do everything to cope with the threat that has arisen.
People were also continuing to be moved from Kursk on Monday – with thousands of residents told to leave their homes in the Belovsky district.
Belovsky governor Alexei Smirnov also issued a missile warning – stating people should take shelter in rooms without windows and with solid walls.
He said that temporary accommodation has been prepared.
Ukrainian forces now up to 30 kilometers inside Russia, Moscow said.
At the weekend, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was taking the war into “the aggressor’s territory”.
Zelensky acknowledged the attack for the first time on Saturday night – saying Russia had launched two thousand attacks from Kursk this summer and it deserved a response.
A top Ukrainian official said that thousands of troops were engaged in the operation, far more than the small incursion initially reported by border guards of Russia.
