A state of emergency was declared in the Belgorod region on the Russian border following the attack by Ukrainian troops.
Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gradkov said the situation was “extremely difficult” as the area came under daily shelling.
“Houses were destroyed and civilians were killed or injured,” he said.
it follows ukrainian Sudden cross-border attacks Large-scale evacuations occurred in Russia’s Kursk region last week, and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in the region.
In a video on Telegram, Governor Gladkov said he would call on the government to declare a state of emergency “at the federal level.”
He said the city of Shebekino and the village of Ustinka were attacked by Ukrainian drones. There have been no reports of casualties.
Russia said it shot down 117 drones overnight, with the main targets being Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod.
Belgorod is located south of the Kursk region, the site of Ukraine’s deepest incursion into Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said troops had moved further into Russian territory, while Army Chief of Staff Alexander Silsky claimed that Kiev “controlled 40 square kilometers” and occupied 74 settlements.
But exactly how much Russian territory is occupied is unclear, and there are doubts about Sirsky’s previous claims that a total of 1,000 square kilometers of territory was under Ukrainian control.
Ukraine said it would not retain the Russian territory it occupied, adding that it would stop its attacks if Moscow agreed to a “just peace.”
Kiev is not interested in “taking over” Russian territory, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman Kheochy Tikhe said.
“The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace … the sooner the Ukrainian defense forces’ attacks on Russia will stop,” he told reporters.
President Vladimir Putin claimed on Monday that Ukraine had rejected Russia’s offer to resume a peaceful settlement.
“It seems that the enemies are realizing their wishes with the help of their Western masters, and the West is fighting us with Ukrainian hands,” he said.
President Zelensky has long said Ukraine would not negotiate with Moscow until Russian troops withdraw from all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
Russia has so far struggled to stem the Ukrainian offensive, with nearly 200,000 Russians fleeing their homes in parts of the Kursk region.
Moscow insisted on Tuesday that Ukraine’s attempts to advance further had been thwarted, but that claim proved false.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the offensive “presents a real dilemma for Putin.”
