The Kremlin has been forced to arm a band of local volunteers to help stop the advance of the Ukrainian army further into Russian territory.

Members of the so-called “Bars-Kursk” will be given weapons and training, before being deployed on six-month contracts to enforce law and order in areas abandoned during Kyiv’s cross-border raid.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the move was likely an attempt by Russia to bolster its forces in the southern border region of Kursk after almost four weeks of fighting.

Ukraine has captured almost 1,300 sq km of Russian territory since launching the incursion on Aug 6, capturing hundreds of prisoners of war in the process.

Its advances have slowed in recent weeks after Russian reinforcements were poured into the area to stabilise the front lines.

But Russian military bloggers have acknowledged that Kyiv still has the upper hand and is making gains, despite the arrivals of reserves from Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.

“The fighters will act in close cooperation with the army and the counter-terrorist operation headquarters,” Alexey Smirnov, Kursk’s acting governor, said of the new volunteer militia.

Its volunteers have been promised they will only serve in the Kursk region, a pledge that is likely an attempt to alleviate fears from potential new recruits that they could be sent to Ukraine.

Russia has over 30 Bars – the combat army reserve of the country – that serve as a cadre of active reservists with a high level of readiness.

“The creation of the Bars-Kursk volunteers unit is almost certainly a Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk Oblast, which began on Aug 6, 2024,” the MoD wrote in an intelligence update on Friday.

“It is unlikely that the volunteer unit will be set up and able to support any Russian military activity in Kursk over the next month. Although it is likely attempting to build its forces in Kursk, Russia is currently prioritising the Pokrovsk axis in eastern Ukraine.”

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, said earlier this week that Russia had redeployed 30,000 troops to Kursk in response to the incursion.

Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers have sounded the alarm over a fresh build-up of Ukrainian troops in Sumy, the Ukrainian region neighbouring Kursk.

‘Reinforcement units’

Rybar, a Telegram channel with over one million followers, wrote: “The enemy is introducing troops into the territory of the Russian Federation as reinforcement units, and large concentrations of personnel are being recorded in the adjacent territory of Sumy Oblast.”

It follows Moscow’s defence ministry earlier this month announcing plans to create a new grouping of troops in its frontier regions of Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk, which border Ukraine.

The Kremlin continues to display caution over the Ukrainian incursion, which is the first foreign invasion on Russian soil since the Second World War.

Nuclear power plant

Despite only declaring it a terrorist operation - not an invasion - Moscow has taken precautions such as digging trenches and fortifications deep into its own territory.

It is also restricting entry to Kurchatov, the town closest to the Kursk nuclear power plant.

Russia managed to reclaim the village of Korenevo, which lies next to a larger town of the same name, according to maps published by Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian website.

Kyiv may be trying to encircle Russian forces

But Rybar said Ukrainian forces continue to “advance” in the areas around the village, suggesting Kyiv may be trying to encircle Russian forces there.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the incursion has created a buffer zone to prevent Russian attacks on Ukrainian border settlements, as well as it being part of his plan to end the war with Russia.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makieiev, said he hoped it would lead the West to abandon fears of escalation.

“We need our partners to show a lot more courage,” he said, adding that Russia could be defeated “if we understand and take advantage of its weaknesses”.