Agencies :
Russia was battling a major cross-border incursion from Ukraine for a second day on Wednesday, with authorities evacuating several thousand civilians due to fighting, officials said.
The incursion began on Tuesday morning, with Russia’s defence ministry announcing it had deployed air and artillery firepower to repel Ukrainian troops breaking into the western Kursk region.
President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of attacking civilian buildings and said he was meeting security service chiefs to discuss a response.
“The Kyiv regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation,” he said in a televised meeting with government officials on Wednesday.
“It is firing indiscriminately from various types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances,” he added.
At least five civilians have been killed and 24 wounded since the incursion began, 13 of whom have been hospitalized, according to Russian officials.
The Russian defence ministry said hostilities were ongoing in a statement published 12:30 local time, but stressed “the enemy’s movement further into Russian territory had been prevented.”
Authorities have evacuated several thousand people from the region and cancelled all mass gatherings, Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov said.