AFP, Moscow

Russia was battling a major cross-border incursion from Ukraine for a second day yesterday, with authorities evacuating several thousand civilians due to fighting, officials said.

The incursion began on Tuesday morning, with the Russian defence ministry announcing it had deployed air and artillery firepower to try to quash Ukrainian troops breaking into the Kursk border region.

“The operation for the destruction of Ukrainian army units is continuing,” the defence ministry said on social media yesterday. “The enemy’s movement further into Russian territory has been prevented,” it added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine was carrying out a “large-scale provocation” in Kursk. He has pledged to support the region “on all fronts”.

Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov said “several thousand” people had been evacuated from the region and all mass gatherings had been cancelled.

“Over the course of the last day, with our help, several thousand people left the shelling zone by personal transport,” Smirnov said in a video message on Telegram. But he added: “The situation in the region is under control”.