Ukraine’s top commander has said Kiev troops control 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory, the largest cross-border invasion in two and a half years of large-scale war.
Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said that seven days after the start of the operation, Ukraine continued “an offensive operation in the Kursk region.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had brought the war to others and now it was coming back to Russia.
But the Russian leader Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a “great provocation” and ordered Russian troops to “drive the enemy from our territory.”
More and more people have been evacuated from western Russia for their safety, with another 59,000 people told to leave on Monday.
The local governor said that about 28 villages in the region had fallen into the hands of Ukrainian forces, that 12 civilians had been killed and that “the situation is still difficult”.
Ukrainian troops launched their surprise attack last Tuesday, advancing up to 30 kilometers into Russia.
The offensive is said to have boosted morale on the Ukrainian side, but analysts say the strategy poses new dangers for Ukraine.
A senior British military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the BBC there was a risk that Moscow would become so angry about the raid that it would redouble its attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
In comments on state television on Monday, President Putin said: “One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow division, unrest, intimidate people and destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society.
“The main task of the Ministry of Defense is, of course, to drive the enemy out of our territories,” he told a meeting of officials.
The governor of the region 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 troops in the region.
“We know nothing about their fate,” he said.
He warned people to take cover from rockets in rooms with no windows and solid walls.
In Belgorod, the region next to Kursk, about 11,000 people were also urged to leave after Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov told people from the Krasnaya Yaruga district that they were being relocated due to “hostile activity on the border”.
He gave a similar warning about rockets, telling people to take shelter in their basements.
In his speech tonight, the Ukrainian president acknowledged the offensive and said: “Russia must be forced to make peace if Putin is so eager to fight.”
“Russia brought war to others, now it is coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will definitely guarantee peace,” Mr Zelensky added.
Ukrainian officials say thousands of troops are involved in the operation, a much larger number than the small incursion Russian border guards initially reported.
An official told AFP news agency the aim was to “cause maximum losses and destabilise the situation in Russia”.
Some Russians are wondering how Ukraine could invade the Kursk region. A pro-Russian war blogger, Yuri Podolyaka, even called the situation “alarming.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said a tough response from the Russian armed forces “will not be long in coming.”
Meanwhile, Russian ally Belarus said it would boost its own troops on the border after claiming Ukraine had invaded the country’s airspace with drones.
