Pro-Ukraine exiled Russian fighters launch cross-border raid into southern Russia

Three pro-Ukrainian battalions made up of recruits from Russia have launched a fresh incursion into southern Russia in a cross-border raid meant to sow chaos before Vladimir Putin’s widely expected re-election this weekend.

The three armed groups of Russian exiled fighters, who operate in close coordination with Ukraine’s military, said they had crossed the border into the southern Kursk and Belgorod regions. In a statement, the Russian National Guard acknowledged the raid, saying that together with the armed forces, they were repelling the Ukrainian-backed armed groups’ attack near the village of Tyotkino in Russia’s western Kursk region.

Russia’s defence ministry later in the day said it had foiled the raids and posted a video appearing to show destroyed tanks and armoured fighting vehicles belonging to the pro-Ukrainian fighters.

But several pro-war Russian journalists close to the military said that fighting on the Russian border was continuing on Thursday evening. Readovka, a pro-Kremlin news site with ties to security services, said the pro-Ukrainian battalions had entered the Russian border village of Kozenka in the Belgorod region, where fighting was taking place.

The Kremlin-controlled RT channel said some people living in border towns in Belgorod were evacuating their homes.

Members of the Siberia, Freedom of Russia Legion and RDK battalions – the three groups that claimed the cross-border raid – closely work with the Ukrainian army.

Russia Legion and RDK battalions comprise members ranging from far-right nationalists to anarchists, while the Siberian battalion is predominantly made of minority ethnic people from Siberia, including Buryats, Yakuts, and Tuvans.

While the cross-border raids are unlikely to result in Ukrainian territorial gains, they could pull Russian troops away from significant battles in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow holds the momentum.

Using several tanks and armoured vehicles, the three groups earlier this week first launched an attack on Tyotkino, a small village located on the Russian border, but soon appeared to have made a retreat back into Ukraine.

On Thursday, the anti-Putin militias posted a statement on Telegram saying that cross-border assault to “liberate” the Kursk and Belgorod regions would continue “until all targets are achieved”.

They urged Russians to evacuate the border regions, announcing a humanitarian corridor from Thursday evening till Friday morning. “After that, we launch a massive attack on Putin’s military,” the militias said.

The border skirmishes were accompanied by sustained Ukrainian drone and missile strikes targeting the city of Belgorod. On Thursday, Ukraine fired at least eight missiles at Russia’s Belgorod border region, killing one person and wounding six, local officials said. Kyiv this week also stepped up its attacks on refineries and energy facilities deep inside Russia, disrupting production at least one vital oil refinery.

The latest wave of Ukrainian attacks comes days before the 15-17 March presidential election, which Vladimir Putin is guaranteed to win.

In an interview with state media on Wednesday, Putin said the latest flurry of Ukrainian border attacks were meant to disrupt the presidential elections. “The main goal, I do not doubt it, is to … somehow prevent the normal process of the expression of the will of the citizen,” he said.

In a message aired on Wednesday, Putin urged Russians to cast their ballots in this week’s carefully managed vote. “It is vital to underscore our cohesion and resolve and move forward together. Every vote you cast is valued and meaningful,” Putin said in a video address first shown in the far east region of the country.

Moscow earlier this week opened polling stations in the four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that it annexed in September 2022. The Ukrainian foreign ministry described the voting held in the four territories as illegal and void and called on its international partners not to recognise the results of the presidential elections.