3,000 evacuated, state of emergency declared after Ukraine’s raid into Russia

Thousands of residents have been evacuated and a state of emergency has been declared in Kursk after Ukraine launched a rare incursion into the Russian border region earlier this week.

Russia's defense ministry said Thursday that its forces in Kursk continued to "destroy armed formations" from Ukraine. Posting on Telegram, the ministry claimed that Ukraine's losses since the start of the Kursk operation amounted to 660 troops and 82 armored vehicles including "eight tanks, 12 armored personnel carriers, six infantry fighting vehicles, 55 armored fighting vehicles, and one counter obstacle vehicle."

The number of military vehicles mentioned is far higher than the ministry's initial figure that 11 tanks and around 20 armored vehicles were involved in the initial incursion that began Tuesday.

CNBC was unable to verify the information in the latest post. Neither Russia nor Ukraine publish fatality figures and both sides have a vested interest in exaggerating each other's losses. After initially downplaying the bold Ukrainian incursion into Kursk, Russia is also seen to be wary of dismissing the apparent new offensive on its territory.

On Wednesday, acting regional Governor Alexei Smirnov said the "operational situation" in the border area remained "complicated."

"In order to eliminate the consequences of enemy forces entering the region, I have decided to declare a state of emergency," Smirnov said in a Google-translated update on Telegram, adding that drone and missile attacks had continued overnight.

On Thursday, acting Deputy Governor Andrei Belostotsky said around 3,000 people were evacuated from shelled areas of the region, with four people killed, according comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.

He also said