'Who is responsible?' Russians back tough response to Ukraine incursion

Moscovites on Saturday backed a tough response to Ukraine's shock border incursion, the most serious attack by a foreign army on Russian territory since the Second World War.

But there were also pockets of anger on the streets of Moscow over how such a brazen operation could have happened in the first place, with Ukraine having advanced several kilometres into Russian territory, triggering mass evacuations from under-fire border villages.

Russia announced a "counter-terror operation" in Kursk and two other border regions late on Friday night -- measures that give the security forces sweeping powers in a bid to bring the situation under control.

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"It was introduced too late. It should have been put in right away," a man named Denis, who declined to give his surname, told AFP in the centre of Moscow on Saturday.

The Kremlin should have "introduced the counter-terror operation regime immediately, and sent in special troops immediately," he added.

Russia on Friday also announced it was rushing more reinforcements to the area, including columns of tanks and rocket launchers.

During "counter-terror" operations, Russian authorities can commandeer vehicles, close towns and cities, introduce checkpoints, listen in on phone calls and announce no-go areas.

"We have to take all the steps that are possible in such a situation," said Alexander Ilyin, a 42-year-old architect.

"God willing, this is one of the steps" that will help, he added, saying that there was still "a lot of work, a lot of action ahead".

At least 76,000 people have fled the border area, the state-run TASS news agency quoted a regional official as saying on Saturday.

'Nobody understands'

In Moscow, 500 kilometres (310 miles) away, there was still horror at the fact that Ukraine had managed so successfully to pierce through Russia's border.

"They seem to be far away from us, but at the same time it feels very close," said Victoria, a 36-year-old analyst at an IT company.

"But our family has full confidence in our government. And the measures that are being put in place now -- well, that's the way it has to be," she added.

Elmira Lvovna, a 71-year-old former physics teacher, also backed a tough response.

"It's probably not a bad thing, because it just organises people," she told AFP about the introduction of the "counter-terror operation".

Since the incursion was launched on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin and senior Russian officials have sought to balance mounting a resolute military response with trying to appear in control and not spread panic among Russians.

Russia has provided few updates on the military situation on state media, while at the same time hailing a major humanitarian response and the provision of government support for those forced to flee.

For some, there is anger at the lack of information.

"There is this fooling of people going on ... nobody understands what is happening," Maria, a 35-year-old who works in advertising told AFP.

"Some on TV report that everything is normal, that the enemy has been stopped. But local people from there -- we have relatives from Kursk -- they say no, it's a disgrace," she added.

Russia's influential pro-conflict military bloggers have led harsh criticism of Moscow's military leaders for failing to spot the incursion in advance, and having still not quashed it after five days.

"As far as we know, there are heavy losses among the soldiers on our side, as well as the destruction of residential buildings," said Denis.

"So who is going to be responsible for that?"