The Ukrainian Army has occupied 28 settlements in Russia’s Kursk Region, intruding some 12km inside the country’s territory, acting regional governor Aleksey Smirnov revealed on Monday. In his report on the situation on the ground in the border region for President Vladimir Putin, Smirnov said there was no clear front line in current clashes with Ukrainian troops, which makes gauging their location complicated.

Clashes in the border areas of Kursk Region have been ongoing since August 6, when Kiev’s troops launched a major cross-border incursion. The Russian Emergencies Ministry declared a federal emergency in the region, and the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) launched counterterrorism measures.

“The situation in the region is currently difficult… There are about 2,000 people, whose fate we do not know,” Smirnov stated, referring to residents who live in settlements currently controlled by Kiev’s army.

At least 12 civilians have been killed in the region since last week, the official said, while another 121 have been injured, including ten children. He noted that some 121,000 locals had either left the border areas or were evacuated since the fighting began, but 180,000 more are still subject to evacuation.

Smirnov previously revealed that the Ukrainian Army had been attempting to impede civilian evacuation efforts by “firing at civilians and ambulances.”

The width of the incursion area is estimated at roughly 40km, and the Russian military has already prepared an anti-tank ditch of approximately the same distance to protect the area against attempted advances by Ukrainian troops, Smirnov said. However, he warned that sabotage groups with Russian documents had been found operating in the border areas, and said he ordered an increase in patrols to root them out.

Addressing officials at a meeting on Monday, Vladimir Putin condemned Kiev’s incursion in Kursk and drone attacks in other Russian regions as “indiscriminate strikes on civilians,” and warned that any peace talks with Ukraine would be impossible as long as this continues.

Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova previously called Kiev’s incursion “barbaric,” and appealed to the United Nations to condemn Kiev’s actions and take steps to stop them.