A state of emergency has been declared in Russia’s Kursk region due to a rare cross-border assault by Ukrainian forces.
According to BBC, acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov stated the measure was essential to “eliminate the consequences of enemy forces coming into the region.”
Russian officials reported at least five civilian deaths and 31 injuries, including six children, since the incursion began.
While Ukraine has not officially commented on the situation, the extent of the incursion remains unclear.
Moscow, on Tuesday morning, said up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops, along with 11 tanks and over 20 armored combat vehicles, entered Russia near Sudzha.
Fighting was reported in several villages throughout the day, prompting local authorities to advise residents to stay indoors and cancel all public events.
Air alerts were issued in Kursk, and verified footage showed fighter jets flying low over the region, with smoke visible on the ground.
Thousands were evacuated from border areas, and doctors were brought in from other cities, Smirnov said.
Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory have been extremely rare since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko claimed that Ukrainian forces had taken control of the Sudzha gas hub, a significant facility for natural gas transit from Russia to the EU via Ukraine.
This claim, unverified by the BBC, marks the first confirmation of an incursion into Russian territory by a Ukrainian official.
Honcharenko stated on Facebook that the incursion would demonstrate to Europeans and Americans that “Russia can and needs to be attacked.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Newshour, Honcharenko added, “From a military point of view, we are trying to take back the initiative… We are showing the world that the world should not be scared of escalation or the reaction of Putin. There is no reaction… For the first time since the Second World War, Russian territory that is internationally recognised is occupied and Putin did not [turn] to nukes and so on.”
He suggested that the incursion would force Russia to reposition troops, potentially reducing attacks in eastern Ukraine.
A White House spokesperson noted that the US had no prior knowledge of the attack and intended to reach out to the Ukrainian military to learn more about their objectives.
In a televised meeting on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of launching a “major provocation” and “firing indiscriminately” at civilian areas.
Russia’s Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov claimed that the “advance” into Kursk had been halted, with Russian forces “continuing to destroy the adversary in areas directly adjacent to the Russian-Ukrainian border.”
Gerasimov stated that Ukrainian forces aimed to control the Sudzha area and that Russia had already killed 100 men and injured 215.
However, some pro-war Telegram channels suggested the situation on the ground was less stable than the Kremlin claimed.
Blogger Yuri Kotenok described the battles in Sudzha and nearby Korenevo as “heavy,” and the channel Rybar reported that the situation around Sudzha was “continuing to deteriorate” with Ukrainian forces advancing. These claims could not be verified.
The Russian National Guard has increased security at the Kursk nuclear power plant, located 70km, 43 miles, northeast of Sudzha.
In the neighboring Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov issued missile attack warnings on Tuesday and reported several injuries from Ukrainian air attacks.
On Wednesday, Volodymyr Artyukh, head of Ukraine’s Sumy region, ordered evacuations from areas bordering Kursk.
Ukrainian military colonel Vladislav Seleznyov told the Nexta channel that the attack was “preventative,” with an estimated 75,000 Russian troops gathering near the border.
Following a major cross-border incursion by Russia into Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region in May, there were concerns of a similar move into Sumy.
With Ukraine now seemingly capturing several settlements and highways, those fears might be allayed for the moment. However, given that Ukrainian forces are already stretched thin, some military analysts are questioning the strategic sense of such cross-border raids.
This is not the first incursion into Russia by fighters based in Ukraine. Anti-Kremlin groups launched raids in 2023 that were repelled and crossed into Belgorod and Kursk regions again in March, engaging in clashes with Russian security forces.
