Russia’s FSB security service said Wednesday it had “eliminated” a group of four Ukrainian fighters who tried to cross into Russia’s western Bryansk region from northern Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.
The announcement came a day after Moscow said it had prevented Ukrainian militants from infiltrating the Bryansk region, which has regularly seen similar attacks.
“The FSB of the Russian Federation and forces of the defense ministry in the border Starodubsky district in the Bryansk region prevented an attempt to infiltrate the territory of the Russian Federation,” Russian news agencies carried the FSB’s statement as saying.
“Four saboteurs were eliminated.”
The Starodubsky district lies in the western corner of the Bryansk region, not far from the border with Moscow-allied Belarus.
The FSB claimed the group had “foreign weapons and explosive devices” and said they were planning “provocations and sabotage actions on Russian territory.”
In June, the Russian region of Belgorod saw the largest incursion since the beginning of the offensive in Ukraine.
Drones and shelling were used in the assault, raising questions about the strength of Russian border defenses.
Ukraine has usually denied responsibility for the attacks, blaming instead Russian partisan groups opposed to President Vladimir Putin.
