The Russian border region of Belgorod declared an emergency on Wednesday after new attacks by Ukrainian forces, with Kyiv claiming control of hundreds of square miles of Russian territory after its rare cross-border incursion.
“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video message posted on his Telegram account.
The declaration came after Belgorod began evacuations on Monday as a result of Ukrainian advances, following Kyiv’s surprise incursion into the neighboring Kursk region last week.
It was a notable change in tactics for Ukraine and marked the first time foreign troops had entered Russian territory since World War II.
Regional authorities are now appealing to the Russian government to declare a federal emergency, Gladkov said.
Two locations in Belgorod, the city of Shebekino and the village of Ustinka, had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, he added. There were no casualties but two residences were damaged.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday that it destroyed dozens of drones and four tactical missiles over the Kursk region, part of a barrage including 117 “aircraft-type” drones downed by the country’s air defenses overnight.
The southwest region of Voronezh, which borders both Kursk and Belgorod, destroyed more than 35 Ukraine-launched drones, Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said Wednesday.
There were no casualties, but properties, vehicles and municipal infrastructure were damaged by falling debris, he added, saying the risk of further drone attacks remains.
Since Ukraine’s incursion began, tens of thousands of Russians have fled their homes while Moscow scrambles to contain the attack, imposing counter-terror operations in Kursk, Belgorod and another border region, Bryansk.
On Monday, Kyiv claimed to have gained control of nearly the same amount of land that Russia had seized so far this year – though that is still dwarfed by the total Ukrainian territory held by Russia since the conflict started in 2014.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said its forces were in control of 74 settlements in Kursk and that they are making preparations for “next steps” in the region.
The incursion has posed a major embarrassment for the Kremlin, with Russian President Vladimir Putin vowing to “kick the enemy out” of Russia – though his troops have yet to stop the Ukrainian advance.
US President Joe Biden addressed the incursion on Tuesday, saying he was receiving regular updates from staff and that it was “creating a real dilemma for Putin.”