Russia said Thursday it had fought off a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” trying to infiltrate its territory through the Bryansk border region, where a Ukrainian pilot had 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-strong Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage group near the village of Slutchovsk,” the region’s governor, Alexandre Bogomaz, said by telegram.
“Units of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as units of the Border Guard Forces, opened fire on the enemy,” he added.
In the past few weeks, the Russian authorities have reported several attempts by “saboteurs” from Ukraine to break into the border regions, which are also regularly the target of artillery fire or drone attacks.
On Wednesday, the Russian Security Services (FSB) announced that they had detained a Ukrainian pilot whose light plane crashed near a village in the Briansk region.
In early March, 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 targeted in recent years were murdered.
Ukraine does not officially recognize “sabotage” operations on Russian territory. Kyiv notably denied any connection with the attack that damaged the Crimean bridge last fall.
However, in early March, hundreds of people attended the funeral in Kiev of fighters from a volunteer battalion who were killed of their own accord during a “sabotage” mission in Russia.