Russian security forces and military units thwarted several attempted armed incursions into Russian territory from neighboring Ukraine, security agencies and local officials have said.
According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), more than 100 Ukrainian military personnel were killed while trying to infiltrate Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, both of which share borders with Ukraine.
Russia’s defense ministry, meanwhile, claimed 20 Ukrainian armored vehicles were destroyed by Russian aircraft and artillery—along with six tanks—in the same operation.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify the Russian assertions.
Kyiv, for its part, has yet to issue an official statement regarding the alleged infiltration attempts, which reportedly began in the early hours of March 12.
But Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman, said the cross-border attacks were conducted by Ukraine-based groups comprised of Russian nationals opposed to the Kremlin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said security forces were “doing everything necessary” to repel the alleged infiltration attempts.
He accused Kyiv of waging “terrorist acts” and “attempting to strike [Russian] civilian targets.”
“But our servicemen remain on guard,” he told reporters. “Our air defenses are working.”
“The special military operation continues,” Mr. Peskov concluded, using Moscow’s term for its ongoing invasion of eastern Ukraine, now in its third year.
Last summer, Russian forces thwarted several large-scale military incursions into Kursk and Belgorod by what Moscow described as “Ukrainian saboteurs.”
Shadowy Groups Claim Responsibility
Responsibility for the latest incursions has been claimed by two shadowy groups based in Ukraine: the self-styled “Freedom of Russia Legion” and the “Siberian Battalion.”Both groups say their membership is composed of disaffected Russian nationals opposed to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We will take our land from the [Putin] regime centimeter by centimeter,” the Freedom of Russia Legion declared in a March 12 social media post.
In broadcast remarks, Mr. Yusov claimed the dissident groups had carried out the infiltration attempts independently of the Ukrainian government.
He went on to assert that a third anti-Putin group—the so-called “Russian Volunteer Corps”—had also taken part in the operation.
After last summer’s cross-border raids into Kursk and Belgorod, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps both claimed responsibility.
In past remarks, Russian officials have portrayed these groups—about which very little is publicly known—as proxies for Kyiv and U.S. intelligence agencies.
This weekend, Russia will hold presidential elections in which Mr. Putin is widely expected to secure another six years in office.
Earlier this week, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused the United States of hatching plans to derail the upcoming poll.
“According to information received by the SVR, the [U.S.] administration of Joe Biden is setting a task for American NGOs to achieve a decrease in [voter] turnout,” the agency said in a March 11 statement.
It further accused the United States of planning to stage cyber-attacks with the aim of “making it impossible to count the votes of a significant proportion of Russian voters.”
The SVR did not provide any evidence for its assertions.
On March 12, a White House National Security Council spokesperson called the Russian claims “categorically false” and “propaganda.”
“The United States has not and will not meddle in Russia’s election,” the spokesperson said.
Along with claiming responsibility for the latest cross-border raids, the Freedom of Russia Legion also weighed in on the upcoming presidential election.
“The [Russian] people will vote for whomever they want, not for who they have to,” it said.
“Russians will live freely,” the secretive group added in a social media post.
Coordinated Drone, Missile Attacks
The failed incursions were accompanied by a series of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on targets inside western Russia, including several energy facilities.According to Russia’s defense ministry, 25 drones were downed on March 12 over the Moscow, Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad, Tula, and Oryol regions.
Nevertheless, a handful of drones managed to breach Russian air defenses, with one hitting an oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region, setting the facility on fire.
“A fuel and energy complex was attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles,” Regional Governor Gleb Nikitin said on social media.
It was later reported that emergency services had put out the blaze.
Local officials also reported that an energy facility in the Oryol region had been struck by Ukrainian drones, temporarily setting a fuel tank alight.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, meanwhile, said that air defenses had downed at least one incoming drone over the Ramensky district on the capital’s outskirts.
In addition to drones, Russia’s defense ministry said a total of nine missiles—including a Tochka-class ballistic missile—had been fired into the Belgorod region.
While the drone and missile attacks caused significant material damage, no casualties were reported, local officials said.
Late last year, Ukrainian forces targeted several populated areas of Belgorod with missiles, rockets, and bomb-laden drones.
At the time, local officials said the cross-border attack had destroyed several buildings and killed at least 25 civilian residents.
The following day, Russia responded with a missile barrage into the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, which reportedly left five people dead.
