The governor issues an evacuation order as kyiv increases military activity across the border and continues its advance on Kursk.
Russia has launched evacuations in the Belgorod region in the face of increasing military activity across the border in Ukraine.
The governor of Belgorod announced on Monday that he had ordered civilians in a district of the region to seek safety. Russian forces are fighting a Ukrainian offensive in the neighbouring Kursk region.
“The enemy is active on the border of the Krasnoyaruzhsky district,” Vyacheslav Gladkov warned on the Telegram messaging platform on Monday.
“For the health and safety of our population, we are starting to move people living in Krasnoyaruzhsky to safer places,” he said. “I am sure that our military will do everything possible to deal with the threat that has emerged.”
Gladkov's statement did not make clear how many Russian residents have been evacuated so far in Belgorod, which has been regularly attacked by Ukrainian missiles and drones in recent months.
kyiv is reported to have dramatically increased its military activity near its border with Belgorod since its forces advanced towards Kursk early on August 6.
Russia has vowed a strong response to what is Ukraine's biggest incursion into Russia since Moscow invaded its neighbour in 2022.
More than 76,000 people have fled the Kursk border area.
Apparently caught by surprise, Moscow is now reported to have stabilised the front at Kursk, although Ukraine has managed to seize a strip of territory where fighting was continuing on Monday, according to Russian war bloggers.
Ukraine has broken its silence on the attacks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to “restore justice” and put pressure on Moscow’s forces.
Russia has imposed a sweeping security regime in the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions. Its ally Belarus said it was increasing the number of troops on its border, and Minsk complained that Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace.
The bold Ukrainian attacks on sovereign Russian territory are seen as part of an attempt by kyiv to show the West it can still carry out major military operations as it tries to gain a bargaining chip ahead of possible ceasefire talks.
Russian forces, which have vast numerical superiority and control 18 percent of Ukrainian territory, have been advancing this year along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in eastern Ukraine.
