Belgorod besieged: Federal emergency as Ukraine advances

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on his Telegram channel on Thursday that a federal state of emergency has been declared in the Belgorod region.

Many of the reports from Russian state media or Kremlin officials are likely untrue. Such reports could be an element of the Russian Federation's information warfare.

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The Kremlin news agency RIA Novosti reports that the decision was made after an extraordinary meeting of the government Commission on Prevention and Response in Emergency Situations.

- In accordance with the information received during the reports, I propose to classify the emergency situation that arose in the Belgorod region as a federal state of emergency and establish a federal level of response, said the head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations head, Alexander Kurenkov.

Kurenkov stated, "The situation in the region exceeds the capabilities of local authorities." He added, "In the region, work is underway to provide comprehensive assistance to the affected population, but the scale of what is happening does not allow regional authorities to deal with the consequences on their own."

The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched an offensive operation in the Kursk region on Russian territory on August 6. Kyiv's units currently occupy an area of about 1,000 square kilometres. This is the first time foreign troops have occupied any part of Russian territory since World War II.

The Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, on Thursday at 15:00 GMT, informed that Since the beginning of the day, Ukrainian troops have advanced distances ranging from about 500 metres to just under 1,500 metres in certain directions, repelled three enemy counterattacks, and continue offensive operations. They have taken control of 1,200 square kilometres of territory and 82 settlements, with the overall situation under control.