Some 300 Ukrainian soldiers conducted an incursion across the border into Russia, engaging in combat inside Moscow's territory on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Members of Ukraine's 22nd mechanised brigade launched an attack between the border villages of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya in the Kursk region of Russia, supported by “11 tanks and more than 20 armoured fighting vehicles,” according to the Russian defence ministry.
The clashes extended as far as the outskirts of Sudzha, a town of some 5,000 people about 10 kilometres from the border. Casualty reports could not be independently confirmed.
Although Moscow claimed it pushed back the incursion, it is unclear whether the assault was over or if all Ukrainian troops withdrew back across the border.
Kyiv did not immediately comment on the alleged incursion.
This is not the first time Ukrainian forces have entered Russian territory. In March, exiled pro-Ukraine Russian fighters attacked Belgorod and Kursk regions but were pushed back with no gains to show for it.
Questions remain over the benefits of similar actions, aside from shock value and forcing parts of Russian troops to bolster their defences by moving troops from elsewhere.
