‘Fierce Fighting’ Erupts in Russia’s Border Region Amid Ukrainian Raid

Border clashes erupted overnight along several parts of Russia’s border with Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian sources reported early on Tuesday, in the latest spill over of the more than two years of war in Ukraine across the border into Russia.

Russian soldiers “prevented a border breakthrough” after Ukraine launched attacks on the Kursk region, acting regional governor, Alexei Smirnov, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The areas around the town of Sudzha, where five people were wounded, and the district surrounding the settlement of Korenevo were targeted, Smirnov said, adding that 26 drones had already been shot down over Kursk overnight. Russia’s defense ministry said that its air defenses had intercepted 13 drones over Kursk early on Tuesday.

“Against the backdrop of massive enemy strikes by aircraft-type UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles], this morning four enemy tanks approached the border” of the Kursk region, a prominent Russian military blogger reported on Tuesday. “The enemy is using infantry and armored vehicles,” the blogger said in a separate statement.

Kyiv launched an attack on “several sections” of the border, the account said, adding: “Artillery duels are underway.”

Another Russian military blogger described “fierce fighting” on the border in Kursk and in Belgorod, another border region southeast of Kursk.

Russian military bloggers are often used as sources for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, and are typically aligned with the Kremlin. Russian independent news outlet Astra and Ukrainian news outlets also reported border clashes on Tuesday.

Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment via email.

The border regions of Russia, including Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk, that look over northeastern Ukraine regularly feel the effects of Moscow’s full-scale invasion. These regions have consistently reported cross-border shelling and Ukrainian drone attacks.

Earlier this year, anti-Kremlin, Ukraine-based Russian organizations said they launched an incursion into Belgorod and Kursk from Ukrainian territory. Moscow blamed the flares of fighting on the border on Ukrainian “terrorist formations.” Kyiv said at the time that the organizations, including the Freedom for Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion, were not official Ukrainian organizations but that Ukraine would “try and help them as much as we can.”

The Freedom for Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion had not published any updates referencing a cross-border attack on Russia on Tuesday by the time of writing.

Belgorod regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said Ukraine had shelled and launched drones at a number of settlements in the region over the past 24 hours, including the village of Yasnye Zori.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses had shot down nine Ukrainian drones over Belgorod on Tuesday morning.