100,000 RUSSIANS FLEE UKRAINE RAID

Putin tries to downplay incursion

- CHRIS HUGHES

ABOUT 100,000 Russian civilians have scrambled for safety from a shock Ukrainian cross-border incursion that has overwhelmed Vladimir Putin's defences.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers, including officers, were forced to surrender as humiliated President Putin tried to play down the blow.

Over 11,000 citizens in Belgorod, neighbouring the main point of the invasion in the Kursk region, have been told to flee by Russian officials.

It is on top of the huge number of refugees who have escaped their Kursk homes, with even more being urged to leave.