Pro-Ukraine Russian soldiers bring taste of war to Putin’s doorstep again

Two groups who claim to be Russians fighting on Kyiv’s side in the war in Ukraine said Thursday they were battling Moscow’s troops in Russia’s Belgorod region, and had destroyed military equipment.

It is the second time the two pro-Ukraine paramilitary groups — the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion of Free Russia — have claimed to have made an incursion onto Russian territory in the past two weeks.

“Our advance units are already fighting on the outskirts of Shebekino,” the Russian Volunteer Corps said on Telegram, referring to a Russian town less than 10 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The Legion of Free Russia claimed to have destroyed a Russian armored vehicle and a military mortar system.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, said several apartment buildings had been shelled, wounding one person.

According to spokesperson for the Russian defense ministry Igor Konashenkov, quoted by state news agency TASS, Russian troops killed over 30 members of the two paramilitary groups.

Last week, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion of Free Russia, whose members say they are Russians fighting to free the country from President Vladimir Putin’s iron grip, overran several villages in the Belgorod region.

Russia claims Kyiv is behind these attacks, which the Ukrainian authorities have denied.