A Russian official says Russian forces thwarted an attempted cross-border attack from Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces thwarted another attempted cross-border Ukrainian incursion into southwestern Russia, a local official said Sunday, months after Kiev launched a daring attack on its nuclear-armed foe that Moscow still seeks to defeat. stop .

An “armed group” tried to cross the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Bryansk region on Sunday, its governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said, but was repelled. Bogomaz did not clarify whether the alleged attack was carried out by Ukrainian soldiers, but said on Sunday evening that the situation was “stable and under the control” of the Russian military.

There was no immediate confirmation or response from Ukrainian officials.

The region borders the Kursk Oblast, where on August 6, Ukraine carried out a surprise attack that shocked the Kremlin and was the largest attack on Russia since World War II. In the first moments of the lightning advance, hundreds of Russian prisoners were blindfolded and transported by truck, while battle-hardened Ukrainian units rapidly advanced into territory covering hundreds of square miles (square kilometers).

Responsibility for previous invasions of the Russian Belagorod and Bryansk oblasts two obscure groups claimed rights: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Freedom Legion.

Russian officials and state media are trying to downplay the significance of Kiev’s turbulent attack near Kursk, but the armed forces have so far failed to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the province. Western officials have speculated that Moscow may send troops from North Korea to bolster its efforts to do so, fueling the nearly three-year war and carrying geopolitical ramifications as far as the Indo-Pacific region.

Russian parliamentarians ratified Art pact and Pyongyang anticipates mutual military assistance, which comes after the United States confirmed the deployment of 3,000 North Korean troops to Russia.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, known by its acronym GUR, North Korean units were detected in Kursk on Wednesday. The soldiers underwent several weeks of training at bases in eastern Russia and were equipped with clothes for the upcoming winter, the GUR said in a statement published late on Thursday evening. She did not provide evidence for her claims.