A woman walks past an installation, which displays the map of the Belgorod region and the slogan “Shebekino does not bow down”, in the town of Shebekino, Russia, on March 11.Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday that its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to launch a cross-border attack on Russia’s Belgorod region on Thursday.
In a statement, the ministry said that Ukraine had used helicopters to land up to 30 soldiers close to the border village of Kozinka. It said they were repelled by Russian soldiers and border guards.
Ukrainian officials said earlier on Friday that two Russian border provinces, Belgorod and the neighbouring Kursk region, were under attack by anti-Kremlin Russian armed groups based in Ukraine.
Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that two people had been killed and “very serious damage” inflicted on the village of Kozinka.
Russia on Friday began voting in a three day presidential election in which President Vladimir Putin is sure to win his latest six year term in office.
Belgorod region, a frontier province that has come under regular attack from Ukraine since 2022, was previously the site of a series of incursions by Kyiv’s forces in 2023.
In May 2023, Ukrainian troops briefly took control of an area close to the border, including the village of Kozinka.
As Russia heads to the polls, air raid sirens have become a regular feature in the southern Russian city of Belgorod, reminding residents the full-scale war in neighboring Ukraine is a reality for them, too. Despite scores of civilian losses, residents still believe Putin is the man for the job.
Reuters