MOSCOW: Russia said on Tuesday it had deployed jets and artillery to destroy an armed group that penetrated the border from Ukraine, while the Kremlin demanded the military prevent any repeat attack.

The incursion was the most serious since Moscow launched its large-scale offensive in Ukraine last year, prompting the Kremlin to express “deep concern” and the evacuation of nine villages in the southern region of Belgorod.

The defence ministry’s announcement that it resorted to the air force and artillery on Russian territory confirmed an unprecedented use of force domestically since the offensive began. “In the course of the counter-terrorist operation, the nationalist formations were blocked and destroyed by air strikes and artillery fire,” the Russian ministry said.

“The remaining (fighters) were driven back to the territory of Ukraine, where they continued to be hit by fire until they were completely eliminated,” it said.

Authorities said 12 people had been injured with the Belgorod region coming under sustained artillery and mortar fire during the fighting.

Moscow reported Russian forces killed more than 70 Ukrainian fighters and destroyed four armoured vehicles, but AFP was unable to independently verify the claims.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow needed to avoid further Ukrainian incursions into Russia and voiced “deep concern”, calling for “more effort from us... so that this does not happen again”.

Belgorod’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said civilians were evacuated from nine border villages in the region, which has previously faced shelling attacks that have killed dozens of people since Moscow launched its offensive last year.

In Moscow, 70-year-old engineer Sergei Rusakov said the border incursion should act as a wake-up call for Russians in the south of the country.

“I think Belgorod residents need to think — not to lie on the couch but scratch their heads and ask themselves, is everything normal in the Russian state?” he told AFP.