MOSCOW/KYIV - Ukraine's attack on the Russian border will receive a "worthy response" and the Russian military's main task is to knock the Ukrainian forces out of Russian territories, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

"The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, and all the goals facing us will undoubtedly be achieved," the Russian leader said at an operational meeting via videoconference on the situation in the border regions.

Putin said it is obvious that the Ukrainian army will continue to try to destabilize the situation in the border zone in order to destabilize the internal political situation in Russia.

READ MORE: Russia evacuates Belgorod residents amid escalating tensions on Ukrainian border

The president called on the Russian Federal Security Service, together with the National Guard, to ensure the regime of the counterterrorism operation and an effective fight against Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the border regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine is carrying out an "operation" in Russia's Kursk region.

"Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky reported on our defensive actions on the front and our operation in the Kursk region," Zelensky wrote on Telegram on Monday.

Zelensky voiced his gratitude to Ukrainian soldiers and commanders "for their resilience and decisive actions".

ALSO READ: IAEA urges Ukraine, Russia to exercise restraint for nuclear safety in Kursk

The Ukrainian leader also said that he instructed the country's Security Service, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and other officials to prepare a humanitarian plan for the area of the "operation".

Separately, Oleksandr Syrsky wrote on Telegram that currently Ukrainian forces control about 1,000 square km of Russian territory.  

Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of the Kursk region. Currently, the Ukrainian military holds 28 settlements in the region, according to Alexei Smirnov, the region's acting governor.

The situation in the Kursk region is complicated, Smirnov said, adding that about 120,000 people had been evacuated.

ALSO READ: Belarus destroys drones from Ukraine

In the neighboring Belgorod region to the south, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov on Tuesday said about 11,000 people were evacuated from the region's Krasnoyaruzhsky district due to increased activity by the Ukrainian Armed Forces,

Of the evacuees, approximately 1,000 are currently staying in temporary accommodation centers.

"Yesterday, residents of the Krasnoyaruzhsky district left their homes due to the operational situation. These evacuees are now provided with food, bedding, and essential supplies. I hope the situation will stabilize soon, allowing them to return home," Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 38 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine overnight on Tuesday and the air defense intercepted 30 of them.

The projectiles were destroyed over eight regions in southern, northern and central Ukraine, the force said in a statement.

The Russian forces also fired two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles at Ukraine from the Voronezh region, the air force added, without giving further details.

Infrastructure facilities, including a gas pipeline and a hospital, were damaged. One person was injured in the attack in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy, the Sumy Regional Military Administration said in a statement.

A nationwide air alert was issued in Ukraine on Tuesday morning after a MIG-31 fighter, a carrier of Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, took off from an airfield in Russia.  

Sumy regional governor Volodymyr Artyukh on Monday said about 3,800 people, including 175 children, have been evacuated from 23 settlements in the region since Aug 6.

The intensity of Russia's shelling in the Sumy region has increased significantly this month compared to June and July, Artyukh said in a video statement published by the Sumy Regional Military Administration.

READ MORE: Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant sustains damage after Ukrainian strike

He said Russia has been launching between 40 and 50 guided bombs daily, targeting the border areas of the Sumy region.

Since July 2023, about 19,800 Sumy residents, including 2,500 children, have moved to safer areas as part of the evacuation efforts.

Last week, Ukrainian authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation from two communities in the region.

The Sumy region borders Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions in the east and Bryansk region in the north.