Anti-Kremlin militias fighting on the side of Ukraine launched an incursion into western Russia’s Kursk region on Thursday, Russian authorities said.
“Ukrainian terrorists have not given up on trying to enter our territory with their sabotage and reconnaissance units around the village of Tyotkino,” Kursk region Governor Roman Starovoit wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
The day earlier, the Freedom of Russia Legion, Russian Volunteer Corps and Siberian Battalion urged civilians in the Kursk region and the neighboring Belgorod region to evacuate.
The three militias, which are made up of Russian citizens fighting on behalf of Kyiv, have called for an end to attacks on Ukraine from Russian territory.
On Thursday, the Freedom of Russia Legion posted a video to Telegram of what it claimed were its fighters destroying ammunition storage sites in Tyotkino, which the militia group claimed to have captured earlier this week.
It was not immediately possible to verify the timing and location of the video.
Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardia) said on Thursday that its forces were involved in repelling the attacks around Tyotkino.
“Rosgvardia is fighting together with military personnel and employees of the Federal Security Services border guard,” the agency was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.
Governor Starovoit later warned Kursk region residents of the threat of drone attacks and called on them to stay vigilant.
The capital of the Belgorod region also came under attack, with Russian air defense systems shooting down at least 10 Ukrainian “aerial targets.”
Authorities in Belgorod posted images of damaged buildings and vehicles.
One woman was killed and three others were injured in those attacks, Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.