Kyiv [Ukraine]: The Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Tuesday that it thwarted attacks by ‘Ukrainian terrorist formations’ after they attempted to enter its territory from three directions, CNN reported.
The ministry said the attacks were launched in the village of Odnorobovka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and in the nearby Russian villages of Nekhoteevka and Spodariushino in Belgorod.
“The enemy was struck by aviation, missile forces and artillery,” the ministry said. It claimed to have “eliminated” five tanks an armoured personnel carrier in Nekhoteevka and Spodariushino.
The Russian defence ministry also said its forces had killed 60 Ukrainian soldiers near Odnorobovka as they attempted to cross into Russia.
It said four additional attacks had been launched near the border territory of Russia’s Kursk region, north of Belgorod, but that Ukraine had “suffered significant losses” and was driven back. The ministry did not outline the number of casualties in Kursk and CNN cannot independently verify the claims.
A pro-Ukrainian groups of Russian fighters claimed to have launched cross border attacks in two regions of Russia on Tuesday, hours after Kyiv fired a wave of drones at targets across the country, CNN reported.
The Freedom for Russia Legion, a group of Russian dissidents fighting for Ukraine, which was previously claimed responsibility for incursions into Russia, said it had gained full control of the village of Tyotkino in Russia’s Kursk region.
The group, comprising a few hundred battle-hardened, anti-Kremlin Russian volunteers fighting as part of Ukraine’s armed forces, also said it had destroyed an armoured personnel carrier inside Russia.
CNN reported that a separate pro-Ukrainian group of Russian fighters, the Siberian Battalion, wrote Tuesday on Telegram, “Well, we’re home at last. As promised, we are bringing freedom and justice to our Russian land.”
A third group, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), also claimed to be involved in the fight.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said 10 civilians had been injured and six were hospitalised after Ukraine attempted to break through Russian territory Tuesday. He added that Ukrainian fighters were not presently in the Belgorod settlements.
Russia’s Belgorod region has suffered several cross-border attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, as Kyiv has sought to bring the effects of war home to Russia, as per the CNN report.
In May 2023, the Freedom for Russia Legion claimed responsibility for an incursion into Belgorod. In the following months, Ukraine began to target the region with shelling and drone strikes, prompting the Kremlin to pledge to improve Belgorod’s air defences.
