Russia has imposed “anti-terrorist” measures in western Kursk and in the nearby regions of Bryansk and Belgorod.
Ukraine is preparing for more Russian strikes in retaliation for its cross-border incursion into the Kursk region as Russia was sending reinforcements, including troops, additional tanks, artillery and rocket systems, officials said.
On Saturday, Russia introduced “anti-terrorist measures” in three regions bordering Ukraine, officials were quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
The National Anti-Terrorist Committee's measures in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk included the possible evacuation of residents, limits on transportation in specific areas, increased security at sensitive locations and wiretapping of telephone and other communications, according to the RIA news agency.
The statement said the decision, taken by Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), was in response to “Ukraine's unprecedented attempt to destabilise the situation in a number of regions.”
Ukraine launched a surprise offensive in Kursk on Tuesday, in the most significant cross-border attack since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia's defence ministry said more troops and ammunition were being deployed to the border area near Kursk ahead of a possible counter-offensive, as Ukraine's advance on Kursk appeared to take Russia by surprise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the incursion a “large-scale provocation” by Ukraine, and military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov has vowed to crush it.
Russian authorities had already declared a state of emergency “at the federal level” in Kursk.
On Friday, a Russian missile struck a supermarket in the Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka in the frontline Donetsk region, killing at least 14 people and wounding 43 others, Ukrainian officials said.
“Russian terrorists attacked an ordinary supermarket and a post office. There are people under the rubble,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.
Kostiantynivka is located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the active combat line in eastern Ukraine.
“No situation on the battlefield can justify targeting civilians,” Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told X, while regional governor Vadym Filashkin said a Kh-38 air-to-ground missile was used in the attack.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which denies intentionally targeting civilians.
Meanwhile, in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine, volunteers were rushing to evacuate dozens of residents and their pets in anticipation of more Russian attacks.
Sumy Governor Volodymyr Artiukh ordered the evacuation of 28 villages in a 10-kilometer (6-mile) zone along the border. National police said Friday that 20,000 people would have to leave.
