A Ukrainian armoured vehicle destroyed by Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk region. Photo: EPA-EFE / RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY
An attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group to cross into Russia’s southwestern Bryansk region was thwarted on Wednesday, according to Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz, who reported clashes between the group and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The group attempted to enter the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, Belarus and adjoins Russia’s Kursk region, which has been the focal point of a Ukrainian incursion since 6 August, through the region’s Klimovsky district, Bogomaz said.
The Ukrainian forces reportedly retreated after suffering “fire damage” from Russia’s FSB Border Service and the Russian military, Bogomaz continued, adding that the situation had been “stabilised” and brought “under the control” of the regional authorities by Wednesday evening.
Popular pro-war Telegram channel Dva Mayora said a group of at least 20 Ukrainian soldiers had launched an attempted cross-border incursion near the village of Zabrama at around 7pm on Wednesday, but retreated after a “small arms fight” with eight border guards and 10 soldiers from Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces battalion.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has commented on the alleged incursion attempt.
Reports of the attempt to cross into the Bryansk region came as images emerged on Thursday morning of bomb shelters being installed in the neighbouring Kursk region, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) incursion entered its third week.
Acting Kursk Governor Alexey Smirnov published an image of a reinforced concrete shelter being delivered to the regional capital Kursk, saying that the structures would be installed at 60 bus stops across the city, as well as in the nearby cities of Zheleznogorsk and Kurchatov.
On Wednesday, Smirnov announced an initiative by Russia’s leading online marketplaces to help locals house those fleeing from districts of the Kursk region under AFU control, with popular classified ads platform Avito inviting users to indicate their willingness to host evacuees free of charge.
