Russians told ‘hide in your basements’ & 121,000 people evacuated as Ukraine seizes 28 TOWNS in Kursk

RUSSIAN citizens in Belgorod have been urged to take shelter in their basements after Ukraine's triumphant invasion.

Some 121,000 people have fled Kursk as Vladimir Putin's crony governor admitted Kyiv forces now control over 28 towns in the borderland region.

As Ukraine pushes its impressive invasion further into a second region, Belgorod, citizens there are also being told to evacuate.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote in a Telegram message on Monday: "The entire territory of the Belgorod region is a MISSILE DANGER.

"Go down to the basement. Stay there until you receive the signal 'all clear missile danger.'"

Around 11,000 people have been evacuated from the Krasnoyaruzhsky district in Belgorod, Russian outlet reports.

Footage appeared to show them being ushered into evacuation buses by soldiers, as local official Andrey Miskov said only 500 residents remain.

The clip showed huge coaches lined up in a row ready to take them away to temporary accommodation.

Russian officials said they were evacuated over the "active" Ukrainian army presence in the area.

Ukraine's forces also launched a tank offensive towards the Kolotilovka area in Belgorod on Monday morning, about 24 miles south of Sudzha in Kursk.

A likely humiliated Vladimir Putin said today his forces must "dislodge" Ukraine's forces from the border regions.

Security has been tightened in Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod to try and fend off Kyiv's impressive penetration.

Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov was forced to tell the Russian tyrant this afternoon how Ukraine now controls 28 villages in the region.

A Ukrainian military analyst Telegram channel later claimed 44 were taken.

He said the invasion is now 7.5 miles deep along a 25 mile frontline in Kursk.

Smirnov also said the number of civilians killed sits at 12 with 121 injured.

He claimed Ukrainian forces were using chemical weapon shells in their incursion - but failed to give any evidence to support it.

At a crunch meeting with top brass security and defence officials Putin insisted the Kursk invasion is a failed attempt by Kyiv to destabilise Russia.

But despite his claims, as many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops supported by tanks and aircraft have now successfully pushed almost 20 miles into Russia.

Ukraine's soldiers are even digging trenches along the new frontline, apparently cementing plans to attempt a long-term occupation.

Russian forces have rushed to reserve troops, tanks, aviation, artillery and drones for the borderlands in a bid to quash Ukraine.

But despite their desperate efforts, they conceded on Sunday that Ukraine was able to reach as far as 18 miles in some areas with the villages of Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez..

Putin appeared at a major military showcase near Moscow today, speaking in a video message to the audience via a huge screen.

Ukraine has hit them hard where it hurts when they weren't looking. It has shown that actually the Russian war machine is very basic

Colonel Hamish de Bretton Gordon

Former British tank commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton Gordon told The Sun: “Ukraine has hit them hard where it hurts when they weren't looking.

"And it's becoming an absolute challenge. It has shown that actually the Russian war machine is very basic.

“Moscow is close enough to hear the shouts and screams of Kursk.

"As long as the shouts and screams are heard in Moscow, to me, that's operational success for Kyiv.”

He said Putin himself has been humiliated by Ukraine’s gains, as he is “calling cabinet meetings every other minute” to talk about the disastrous incursion.

He told The Sun: “He, like Hitler, has got involved in the minutiae. Putin is not a soldier. He was a spy. 

“But he is getting right in there and telling soldiers on the front line how to do the job, a job he doesn't really understand, which I expect is making matters much worse. 

“He is also no doubt telling his generals, get forces, get them up there to Kursk to block this gap.”

Hamish also pointed out that Putin and his crony generals have yet to enjoy any success in squashing Ukraine’s efforts.

“We're a week into this,” he said, “And there has been no Russian counter move and no Russian force”.

“We're a week into this,” he said, “And there has been no Russian counter move and no Russian force”.

The mouthpieces of Putin’s propaganda machine in Moscow, he explains, “appear to have lost their tongues”.

“Even the military bloggers and the people in Moscow who are always on the TV saying, you what a disaster the West is, are silent, they appear to have lost their tongues.

“People in the rank and file in Russia are now hearing about this. Putin has told them, ‘I'm the great military strategist, I can defeat everybody, you're absolutely safe’. 

“But well, hang on now, we know that 80,000 civilians are charging eastwards because they're terrified of Ukraine."