Russia said Thursday it repelled a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” who were trying to infiltrate its territory via the border region of Bryansk, where a Ukrainian pilot had already been arrested the day before.
“The Border Guard Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Bryansk region foiled an attempt to enter Russian territory by a 20-man Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage group near the village of Slutchovsk,” it said. on Telegram the governor of the region, Alexandre Bogomaz.
“Units of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as units of the Border Guard Forces, opened fire on the enemy,” he added.
The Russian authorities have reported in recent weeks several attempted incursions by “saboteurs” from Ukraine into the border regions, which are also regularly targeted by artillery bombardments or drone attacks.
On Wednesday, the Russian security services (FSB) announced that they had arrested a Ukrainian pilot whose small plane had crashed near a village in the Briansk region.
In early March, the Russian authorities reported another incursion into the Briansk region by a group from Ukraine who, according to the FSB, opened fire on a car, killing two civilians and injuring a child.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered his security forces to “do everything in their power to ensure the safety of the population” both in Russia and in the occupied Ukrainian territories, where several pro-Russian officials have been assassinated in recent years. month.
Ukraine does not officially recognize “sabotage” operations on Russian territory. Kyiv notably denied any link with the attack which damaged the Crimean bridge last fall.
In early March, however, hundreds of people attended the funeral in kyiv of fighters from a battalion of volunteers acting on their own and killed during a “sabotage” mission in Russia.