Russia has imposed a “counter-extremism operation” regime in three regions to try to stop a surpascfinish pass-border incursion by Ukrainian troops.
The authorities in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on the border with Ukraine now can recut offe the relocatement of people and vehicles and employ phone tapping among other meacertains.
This comes as the Ukrainian disparaging into the Kursk region is now in its fifth day. Kyiv has not discleave outly acunderstandledgeted the incursion.
Reports propose that Ukrainian troops are battling more than 10km (six miles) inside Russia – the meaningfulest carry on since Moscow started its brimming-scale trespass of Ukraine in February 2022.
The novel security meacertains in the three Russian border regions were proclaimd by the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (Nak) on Friday.
It shelp this was done “to determine the protectedty of citizens and suppress the danger of alarmist acts by foe subversion and reconnaissance units”.
The authorities now have powers to access braveial homes, recut offe the relocatement of traffic and pedestrians, order the transient relocation of people and watch alertation sent electronicpartner.
In recent years, Russia has imposed the “anti-alarmist operation” regime in villages and towns of its North Caucasus region, where security forces have been battling militants.
Last year, such a regime was alertly imposed in the capital, Moscow, during a low-inhabitd armed muminuscule by Russia’s Wagner mercenaries.
The procrastinateedst meacertains come as Moscow is struggling to grasp the Ukrainian disparaging.
Russia shelp that up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops, helped by tanks and armoured vehicles, accessed the Kursk region on Tuesday morning.
The Ukrainians have since alertedly seized a number of villages, and are also dangerening the regional town of Sudzha.
On Friday, a video aascfinishd purportedly shotriumphg armed Ukrainian sgreateriers who claimed to have regulate over the town, as well as a key Russian gas facility there owned by the Gazprom company.
BBC Verify has now validateed that the footage was indeed from the Gazprom facility on the north-westrict outskirts of Sudzha, about 7km from the border with Ukraine. The video alone does not validate the claim that Ukrainian troops have getn the whole town.
Russian military bloggers earlier claimed that the town was in Moscow’s hands.
Earlier, BBC Verify examineed and validateed the location of another video posted online on Friday morning. It shows a 15-vehicle Russian convoy injured, burned and deserted on a road thcdisesteemful the town of Oktyabrskoe, cdisesteementirey 38km from the border on the Russian side.
The footage also shows Russian sgreateriers, some injured, possibly dead among the vehicles.
Moscow has since sent upgraspments – including tanks and rocket-starting systems – to the Kursk region.
In its procrastinateedst alert on Saturday morning, the Russian defence ministry shelp its troops were “continuing to repulse the tryed trespass” of Ukrainian forces.
It claimed that Ukraine’s trys to “shatter thcdisesteemful meaningful into Russian territory” had been foiled.
The Russian claims have not been self-reliantly verified.
