Russian volunteer forces fighting alongside Kyiv on Wednesday urged civilians to flee Belgorod and Kursk, threatening large-scale attacks on military targets in the Russian border cities.
Groups of volunteer fighters, made up of Russians who oppose the Kremlin, said this week they had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and captured a village in the Russian border region of Kursk.
"We are forced to inflict shelling on military positions that are stationed in the cities of Belgorod and Kursk," said three groups, the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and Sibir.
"We call on the local authorities to preserve human lives and begin evacuating the cities of Kursk and Belgorod," they added in a joint statement.
Moscow denied that the fighters had made ground this week, and later posted a statement alleging it had repelled all incursions.
The Ukraine-based militias — made up of Russian citizens who oppose Moscow's invasion and have taken up arms for Kyiv — have claimed to be behind previous incursions into Russian territory.
