"The Kyiv regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation," he said in a televised meeting with government officials. "It is firing indiscriminately from various types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances."

Ukraine has not yet commented on the attack but authorities announced they were evacuating around 6,000 people from its Sumy region. Kursk regional head of Russia, Alexei Smirnov reported that authorities evacuated several thousand people and canceled mass gatherings.

Russian military bloggers have reported that the Ukrainian incursion has reached Sudzha, a small town of around 5000 people which houses a major transit point for Russian pipeline gas going to Europe. A priest from the town, Evgeny Shestopalov, shared to Russian media that Sudzha was "on fire," adding, "Our church is full of people, children, not everyone has shelters, not everyone can leave ... There is no transport running, so we are gathering people in the church."