The latest attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group to break into Russian territory has been repelled, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
Kiev’s forces tried to enter the village of Kozinka, located in Russia’s Belgorod Region close to the border with Ukraine, the ministry said on Saturday. The incursion was thwarted by the Russian military and the Border Service of the Federal Security Service (FSB), it added.
Later in the day, the ministry published a clip, which it said showed the destruction of Ukrainian saboteurs in Kozinka.
It is not clear when the footage was captured, as the same village was the target of a failed infiltration attempt on Thursday. According to Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, residents were evacuated from Kozinka as the situation escalated.
Drone footage showed around a dozen Ukrainian fighters using an explosives detector to get through minefields and reaching a private home in the village – where they were shelled by Russian artillery.
After being forced out of Kozinka, the saboteurs ended up in an open field and were targeted by kamikaze drones, according to the footage.
Also on Saturday, the Ukrainian military shelled the Russian city of Belgorod with a Czech-made RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launch system, killing two people and injuring three others, Gladkov said.
Kiev’s forces have intensified their artillery and drone strikes on Russian territory over the past week. They have also attempted several major incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk Regions. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, they all failed, with Ukraine suffering over 1,500 casualties and losing dozens of pieces of equipment, including a number of tanks and APCs.
On Friday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin condemned the attacks as criminal acts by the “neo-Nazi regime” in Kiev aimed at disrupting the presidential election, which is being held in Russia from March 15 to March 17.