\n<\/p>\n
Steve Rosenberg, Russia Correspondent <\/i><\/p>\n
For nearly a fortnight now Ukrainian forces have been seizing and occupying Russian territory. <\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s cross-border attack into Kursk region marks the first time since World War II that a foreign army has been fighting inside Russia. <\/p>\n
It is a dramatic and unexpected development in this war, nearly two-and-a-half years after President Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n
The Kremlin has vowed to \u2018force the enemy\u2019 out of Russia. President Putin hasn\u2019t publicly used the word \u2018invasion\u2019 to describe the Ukrainian offensive, as if to play down what is happening and avoid any sense of panic. <\/p>\n
But how are the Russian people reacting? <\/p>\n
Drive two-and-a-half hours south of Moscow, into Tula region, and you\u2019ll arrive in the small leafy town of Aleksin.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s only 100 miles from Moscow, yet somehow feels a world away from the Russian capital. <\/p>\n
The day we visit there is a \u2018patriotic\u2019 pop concert on the town square. Most of the people I speak with express alarm at what is happening further south. <\/p>\n
Since February 2022 Russian state TV has been reporting Russian forces operating in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
No one here expected Russia\u2019s border to be broached. There is an evident fatigue. Everyone talks of the need for peace. But right now there is no common view of how this can be achieved. <\/p>\n
Repeating the official messaging of the state media, some Russians call for \u201cpeace on Russia\u2019s terms\u201d (in other words, Ukraine\u2019s full capitulation). <\/p>\n
Others express hope that Moscow and Kyiv will sit down at the negotiating table and work out a way to end the conflict. <\/p>\n
The Kremlin is still calling what its troops are doing in Ukraine a \u201cspecial military operation.\u201d It says that now Russia is conducting a \u201ccounter-terrorism operation\u201d in Kursk region. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s the official view. But ordinary Russians use one simple word to describe all of this: \u2018war.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Producer: Liza Shuvalova<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n