On Tuesday morning, Russian pro-war bloggers and the Telegram tabloid Baza wrote that a "shooting battle" was taking place in the Kursk region, and "artillery was working." According to them, this is happening in the area of the village of Tyotkine near the border with Ukraine. In other reports, the Belgorod region is mentioned.
The Telegram channel of the "Liberty of Russia" Legion (which is fighting on the side of Ukraine) published a post with the words "crossed the border" and a video shot at night showing the movement of an armored vehicle.
The "RBK-Ukraine" publication, citing sources in the special services, claims that the "Siberian Legion" (it is not known exactly what it is), the RDK (Russian Volunteer Corps) and "Freedom of Russia" are fighting in the Belgorod region.
The BBC cannot verify the authenticity of these claims. There were no official statements from either the Russian or the Ukrainian side.
At the same time, a representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense of Ukraine gave the following comment to the mass media: the mentioned formations "act as independent units, as they consist of citizens of Russia."
"Probably, a joint operation of these units is taking place now," he told Channel 24.
"Freedom of Russia" and RDK, which are fighting on the side of Ukraine, have repeatedly announced sabotage sorties, in some cases this was confirmed by the Russian authorities.
An employee of the Russian state television and radio company VGTRK, Andriy Rudenko, also claims in his Telegram channel that "in the morning in the Belgorod region, the enemy made an attempt to break through" and "sent three armored personnel carriers to the southeastern border of the Graivoronsk district."
According to him, there was an "attempt to break through the border" in the Kursk region in the Tyotkino region, "part of the enemy's forces were destroyed, the rest retreated."
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who previously reported on drone raids on the night of March 12, now writes that the city of Shebekino (also on the border with Ukraine) came under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to him, there is one victim - "a woman has a shrapnel wound on her face." He also notes that there is "various damage to six private houses, shop buildings, the central district hospital, a kindergarten and a technical school" in the city.
Gudkov does not mention the invasion of the DRG on the territory of the region, although he wrote about it a year ago, when similar actions took place in May 2023.
Previous attacks
PHOTO AUTHOR, RUSSIAN VOLUNTEER CORPS
This is not the first time armed men have crossed the Russian border from Ukraine.
One of the most high-profile break-ins took place in May of last year.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, called the attack on the region "unprecedented".
He reported on numerous shellings in the region, downed drones, stated that residents of a dozen border settlements were "actually displaced" and complained about "fakes" and "a real information war" to intimidate and sow panic.
The fighters of the "Russian Volunteer Corps" (RDK) and the "Legion "Freedom of Russia" took responsibility for the attacks.
Official Kyiv consistently denied its involvement in the operation.
