“The enemy will certainly receive a proper response, and all the goals we face will undoubtedly be achieved,” Putin said at an operational meeting with representatives of the law enforcement on the situation in the Kursk region.

The relative calm situation in the Bryansk Region today does not guarantee that this will continue, we need to prepare for different scenarios, Putin continued.

Kiev’s action in Russia’s Kursk Region aims to stop the offensive of Russian troops along the front line, Putin said.

“Such actions, of course, pursue the main military goal of stopping the offensive of our troops to completely liberate the territory of the Lugansk [also known as Luhansk] and Donetsk People’s Republics, the territory of Novorossiya,” he added.

The pace of the offensive of the Russian forces on the front line after the events in the Kursk Region not only did not decrease, but increased by 1.5 times, the president said, adding that despite Kiev’s provocations, Russian troops were advancing along the entire line of contact.

He pledged that an assessment of the current developments in Russia’s Kursk Region would be made.

The main task of the Russian Defense Ministry at the moment is to push the Ukrainian troops back from Russian territory, the president added. Russian border guards must ensure reliable protection of the state borders, he also said.

The fight against Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups is one of the main tasks of work in the Kursk Region, Putin added.

The defense ministry must kick the enemy out of the region, Putin stressed.

The situation in the Kursk Region shows that Kiev rejects all the peace proposals of Moscow and mediators, Putin stated.

“Apparently, the enemy is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future, but what kind of negotiations can we talk about at all with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, civilian infrastructure, or try to create a threat to nuclear energy facilities? What can we talk about with them at all?”

Ukraine launched an attack on Kursk Region last week, the largest cross-border assault since the outbreak of the conflict, with media reports suggesting that the offensive involved some of Kiev’s best-equipped brigades. While Ukrainian forces made some gains, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed the advance had been halted. The Russian military has estimated Kiev’s losses at around 1,600 troops and 200 armored vehicles.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region in southern Russia, stated people living in the Krasnoyaruzhsky district were being relocated to safer places. This comes after the evacuations over the weekend of thousands of people living in the neighboring Kursk region.

“We’re having a disturbing morning – enemy activities on the border of Krasnoyaruzhsky district. I am sure that our military will do everything to cope with this threat. But to protect the life and health of our people, we are beginning to relocate people who live in the Krasnoyaruzhsky district to safer places,” he said in a statement posted on his official Telegram channel.

About 11,000 residents from Krasnoyaruzhsky district were evacuated, the head of the district administration Adrei Miskov noted later.

The incursion, which is now affecting two Russian regions, is seen as something of a game-changer in the conflict. The Ukrainian military has in the past regularly attacked targets inside the Belgorod region with drones and missiles, but until last week Kyiv had not launched any official ground incursions across the border in the two and half years since the start of the full-scale war.

The extent of the operation remains unclear.

An influential Russian military blog Rybar said on Monday that “apparently the [Armed Forces of Ukraine] is not shying away from plans to stretch our defensive formations, create the maximum number of points of tension, and attempt to break through in the east to cut Belgorod off from the north”.

Also, several Russian military bloggers reported an attempt by Ukrainian armed forces to attack a border crossing in the Belgorod region Monday morning, in the district that Russian authorities say is being evacuated.

The operation, which started last Tuesday, has been shrouded in mystery. Ukrainian officials have for days remained silent, refusing to comment on reports of Ukrainian troops operating inside Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky finally confirmed Kyiv’s troops crossed into Russia on Saturday, stating in his nightly address to the nation that “Ukraine is proving that it really knows how to restore justice and guarantees exactly the kind of pressure that is needed – pressure on the aggressor”.

The reason for the attack is also unclear. Ukraine has been under increased pressure along the 600-mile frontline as Moscow continues its slow, grinding offensive, inching towards several strategically important towns and roads in eastern Ukraine.

The cross-border incursion could be an attempt to divert Russian resources elsewhere. Given the spate of more negative developments from the frontline, the news of a successful incursion help Kyiv boost the morale of its troops and civilian population.

Moscow has been scrambling to contain the attack. Russian authorities imposed a sweeping counter-terror operation in the three border regions, but stopped short of declaring the incursion an act of war.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitoring group, announced this was likely an attempt by the Kremlin to deliberately downplay the assault to prevent domestic panic or backlash over the fact that Russia was unable to defend its own borders.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has refrained from officially declaring a state of war, has repeatedly demonstrated his unwillingness to transfer Russian society fully to a war-time footing, and has forgone declaring general mobilization as part of wider efforts to prevent domestic discontent that could threaten the stability of (his) regime,” the ISW added.