Russia Enters ‘counter-Terrorist’ Mode In Response To Ukraine Attack.

Russia has sent reinforcements, including tanks and missile launchers, to the Kursk region. It has implemented a “counter-terrorist operation” regime in three regions in an attempt to prevent sudden cross-border incursions by Ukrainian troops.

Authorities in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions, which border Ukraine, can now restrict the movement of people and vehicles and use measures such as wiretapping.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s attack on the Kursk region has entered its fifth day. Kyiv has not publicly acknowledged the attack. Ukrainian troops reportedly threatened to seize a regional city while fighting more than 10 kilometers (6 miles). Inside Russian territory, the deepest advance since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) announced new security measures in three of Russia’s border regions on Friday.

He said they were being done “to ensure the safety of citizens and suppress the threat of terrorist acts by hostile reconnaissance and sabotage units.”

Authorities now have the power to enter private homes, restrict traffic and pedestrians, order temporary transfers of people, and monitor messages sent electronically.

This comes as Moscow works to contain the offensive in Ukraine.

More than 76,000 people have been evacuated from the border region of Kursk region, according to Russian news agency TASS. Russia said up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, entered the Kursk region on Tuesday morning.

Since then, Ukrainians have reportedly taken control of several villages and are threatening the regional city of Sodzah.

On Friday, a video emerged, purportedly showing armed Ukrainian soldiers claiming control of the city. As well as a large Russian gas facility owned by Gazprom.

BBC verified that the video was from a Gazprom facility in the northwestern suburb of Sodya, about 7 km from the Ukrainian border. This video alone does not confirm claims that Ukrainian troops are in control of the entire city.

Russian military bloggers have previously claimed that the city is in Moscow’s hands. Unidentified Ukrainian soldiers are seen at a Gazprom gas facility in the Russian city of Sodya. A video recording site verified by BBC.

Previously, BBC verified and confirmed the location of another video posted online on Friday morning. In the photo, a Russian convoy of 15 damaged and burned vehicles was abandoned on a road passing through the town of Oktyabrskoe, about 38 km from the Russian side of the border.

The images also showed Russian soldiers in the vehicles, some of whom were injured and possibly dead.

Moscow has since sent reinforcements to the Kursk region, including tanks and missile launch systems.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russian forces “continue to repel incursion attempts by Ukrainian troops.”

He claimed that Ukrainian attempts to “advance deep into Russian territory” had been thwarted.

Russia’s allegations have not been independently confirmed. The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to “exercise maximum restraint” because the Kursk nuclear power plant is one of Russia’s largest.

IAEA Director Raffaello Grossi said steps must be taken to “avoid a nuclear accident with possible serious radiological consequences.”

The nuclear power plant is about 60 kilometers northeast of Sodzah.