Counter-terror operations grant regional authorities and security forces widespread powers that allow them to restrict movement, monitor phone communications, and introduce heightened stop and search measures.
Russia on Saturday announced what it called a counterterrorism operation to increase security in the border region where an incursion this week by Ukrainian forces caught Russian troops off-guard and exposed its military vulnerabilities in the 2 1/2-year-old war
The cross-border raid by Ukrainian forces its Kyiv’s largest in the two-and-a-half years of conflict after Moscow launched its all-out invasion in early 2022.
While thousands of Ukraine's troops have stormed into Kursk Oblast to the north, this is the first time they have been pictured in Belgorod, opening yet another front inside Russia.