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Pro-Ukrainian militant groups launch incursion into Russia

By Patrick Reevell, ABC News Mar 12, 2024 | 7:00 AM
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(NEW YORK) — Dozens of pro-Ukrainian fighters claimed on Tuesday to have launched an incursion with tanks and armored vehicles across the border into Russia, in what may be the largest attack over the border since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Fighters from two pro-Ukrainian Russian militant groups claimed to have crossed the border Tuesday morning into the Belgorod region that borders northeast Ukraine and to have engaged Russian forces.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense and Federal Security Service, the FSB, confirmed that dozens of fighters tried to break through into the Belgorod and Kursk region further south.

But the ministry claimed the Ukrainian fighters were “repulsed” after suffering heavy casualties and that they were unable to penetrate into the border regions.

The FSB claims “over 100 enemy personnel, six tanks, a Caesar self-propelled gun, 20 armored combat vehicles” were destroyed.

The Free Russia Legion, a group of Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine, posted a video Tuesday morning claiming to show itself moving with tanks moving over the border. It has also posted a video claiming to show a Russian armored vehicle being destroyed in a border village.

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