The Russian province of Belgorod was today the target of an incursion by gunmen who arrived from Ukraine, prompting Moscow to impose “anti-terror regime” in the area and begin evacuating civilians in order to fend off this attack on Russian soil.

Although there have been other attacks in this border area in recent weeks, today’s has taken on a large scale and many villages have been hit by shells. Reacting to this development, the FSB (Russian security service) imposed the afternoon “anti-terrorist operation zone status” in the area. This means that the authorities gain increased powers that allow them to carry out armed operations, checks on citizens or remove residents. This regime is imposed for the first time on Russian soil after the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The governor of Belgorod said that civilians leave the area.

“We are going door to door (…) A large part of the population has left the area in question, we are helping with our own means of transport those who have not left yet”, Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram post.

“I hope our soldiers will soon complete their mission and destroy the enemy”he added, clarifying that there are seven or eight injured.

Earlier, Russian authorities announced that a group of “saboteurs” of the Ukrainian army invaded the region of Grayvoron. TKiev has denied, as is its custom, that it is involved in any operation inside Russian territory.

According to Governor Gladkov, the gunmen attacked the communities of Zamostie and Glotovo, as well as the “capital” of the region, Gryvoron.