President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Ukraine was carrying out “indiscriminate” attacks on civilians during cross-border incursions into southwestern Russia’s Kursk region.
“The Kyiv regime has launched another large-scale provocation, firing indiscriminately with various types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, houses and ambulances,” Putin told government officials, according to a Kremlin transcript.
Russia’s military said clashes with Ukrainian forces had been ongoing since they launched a surprise incursion into the Kursk region early Tuesday. At least five people were killed, dozens injured and thousands of civilians evacuated.
Acting Kursk region Governor Alexei Smirnov said he had briefed Putin about the incursion.
Putin said he had instructed government agencies to “provide the needed assistance to residents” and ordered First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov to oversee their work following talks with Smirnov.
The Russian leader’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with government officials on construction and manufacturing.
Putin said he planned to meet Defense Ministry, General Staff and Federal Security Service (FSB) border guards afterward to hear a report about the situation in the Kursk region.
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