Putin orders more than 76,000 to evacuate as Ukraine launches surprise cross-border offensive into Russia

Russia has evacuated over 76,000 people in the Kursk region after declaring a state of emergency amid fierce fighting in its borders with Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has been forced to call in reserve troops as a federal level emergency was declared in Russia over the Ukrainian incursion across the border into Kursk.

With the incursion entering its fifth day, Moscow is dealing with a among Russia’s forces, Volodymyr Zelensky praised his army’s ability “to surprise” and “achieve results” while not directly mentioning the raid by name.

Around 1,000 Ukrainian troops in tanks and armoured vehicles broke through the Russian border and into the Kursk region in the early hours of Tuesday, with US-based analysts suggesting they had penetrated more than six miles into Russia, breaking through two defensive lines and a stronghold.

Overnight, Ukraine claimed to have hit a Russian military airfield in the Lipetsk region – more than 100 miles into Russia – causing a large fire and damaging guided bomb stockpiles at an airfield housing Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 warplanes.

Why Ukraine launched an audacious cross-border attack on Putin’s forces in Russia’s Kursk
Kyiv’s audacious cross-border assault into Russia‘s Kursk region has certainly ruffled feathers in Moscow. Vladimir Putindenounced it as a “large-scale provocation” while his officials have lined up to tell him the situation is under control – despite fighting continuing into a third day on Thursday and thousands of people having to evacuate the area.

Ukraine has an issue with the number of soldiers it can put on the battlefield and has been trying to up recruitment, so some may ask why it would commit resources to an incursion into Russia, especially when Moscow’s forces are putting Kyiv’s troops under pressure on other points of the 600-mile frontline, including around the key eastern town of Pokrovsk, several hundred miles away in the region of Donetsk.

However, while the operation into Kursk is unlikely to create a long-term strategic opportunity for Kyiv, given that troops will be unable to hold any gained land for long, there are plenty of more symbolic reasons for bursting through the border. The two major reasons are morale and making both Moscow and Western allies think.

While this assault will not change the trajectory of the war, writes Chris Stevenson, its symbolic importance and boost to morale should not be underestimated.

Intense battles are taking place between Ukrainian forces and Moscow’s troops after one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since Vlasimir Putin’s invasion began – prompting the Russian president to accuse Kyiv of a “major provocation”.

The surprise incursion began on Tuesday morning, when hundreds of Ukrainian troops reportedly entered the Kursk region according to Russia’s Defence Ministry and the area’s governor, Alexei Smirnov. Kyiv has so far remained quiet about the scope of the operation.

Ukraine is reportedly gaining a “foothold” in the Kursk region and could be as far as nine miles (15km) inside the border, according to unverified reports from Russian military bloggers. Telegram Channels affiliated with Russia’s Defence Ministry have claimed that Ukrainian troops are in control of three villages in the Sudzha district of Russia’s Kursk region, which borders the Sumy region of northeast Ukraine.