Russia’s Belgorod region which is close to Ukraine’s border has issued a “missile danger” alert notice and around 11,000 Russian residents have been evacuated to safety.

The residents have been evacuated from the Krasnoyaruzhsky district in Belgorod on Monday morning as Ukrainian military units are “active” in the region.

District administration head Andrey Miskov said that around 500 residents have decided to stay and the rest have been sent on busses to temporary accommodation at an undisclosed location.

He said that due to “enemy [Ukrainian forces] activity on the border” the evacuations were ordered.

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Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, “The entire territory of the Belgorod region is a MISSILE DANGER.

“Go down to the basement. Stay there until you receive the signal ‘all clear missile danger’.”

General Sir Richard Shirreff, NATO’s former deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe said that Ukraine’s “bold manoeuvre” shows that “Russia can be defeated.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 General Shirreff said, “At a stroke Ukraine has demonstrated boldness, initiative, and seriously sophisticated planning. They clearly put this together over a period of time, achieved total surprise and have made monkeys out of Putin.

“They have also made monkeys out of those defeatist elements in the West who have swallowed the Russian propaganda line that Russia cannot be defeated. This demonstrates conclusively that it can.”

In a message to the West the former NATO commander said that they must now “double down” to help Ukraine to drive a “long term Ukrainian offensive capability.”