According to Ukraine, the Russian paramilitary forces operating in Ukraine are behind the Belgorod operation.
Monday’s events in the Belgorod border area are still partially shrouded in darkness.
It is known that a group of armed men attacked the Russian side from Ukraine in the afternoon. Russia has since strengthened its own forces in the region.
At least six people are said to have been injured in the gunfight.
– Ukraine is monitoring the situation in Belgorod, but we have nothing to do with the attack, the president’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on his twitter account.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency that the president Vladimir Putin has been informed of the attack.
Russia: “Saboteurs came across the border”
Governor of Belgorod Vyatjeslav Gladkov announced on the Telegram messaging app that the Russian army, border guard and security service FSB were protecting people in the area from the attack. Material has been published on social media that shows, for example of military helicopters (you transfer to another service) flying area.
According to Gladkov, the situation is not so serious that people have been evacuated from their homes to avoid fighting.
The Ukrainian Hromadske channel reports that, according to Ukrainian military intelligence, the attackers are volunteer Russian soldiers fighting on the side of Ukraine.
There are currently two groups of Russian soldiers operating in Ukraine, fighting alongside the Ukrainians against Russia. Estimates of the size of the groups vary from a few hundred to four thousand soldiers.
Another of the groups, the Legion of Freedom for Russia, posted a message on Twitter saying that now is the time to end the Kremlin’s dictatorship.
The heavily armed fighters said they were Russians who would like their children to grow up in peace.
So far, no party has been able to confirm the course of the cases from independent sources.