Steve Rosenberg, Russia Editor
For nearly two weeks now, Ukrainian forces have been seizing and occupying Russian territory.
A Ukrainian cross-border attack in the Kursk region would be the first time a foreign military has fought on Russian soil since World War II.
It's a dramatic and unexpected development in the war, nearly two and a half years after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has vowed to “drive the enemy” out of Russia. Putin has not publicly used the word “invasion” to describe the Ukrainian offensive, in an attempt to downplay what is happening and avoid panic.
But how are Russian people reacting?
About two and a half hours' drive south from Moscow to the Tula region brings you to the small, green town of Aleksin.
Though it's only 100 miles (160km) from Moscow, you'll feel a world away from the Russian capital.
On the day we visited, a patriotic pop concert was being held in the town square, and most people I spoke to expressed alarm at what was happening further south.
Since February 2022, Russian state television has been reporting on Russian troops operating in Ukraine.
Nobody here expected the Russian border to be breached.
There is a clear sense of fatigue. Everyone is talking about the need for peace. But right now there is no common understanding of how to achieve peace.
Echoing the official message from state media, some Russians are calling for “peace on Russia's terms” (in other words, Ukraine's complete surrender).
Some hope that Moscow and Kiev will come to the negotiating table and find a way to end the conflict.
The Kremlin still calls what its troops are doing in Ukraine a “special military operation.” Russia now says it is conducting an “anti-terrorist operation” in the Kursk region.
That's the official story, but ordinary Russians use one simple word to describe it all: war.
Producer: Liza Shuvalova
16 hours ago
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