Extract from ABC News
Russia said it had defeated fighters who crossed the border into the Belgorod region from Ukraine after two days of combat, in what appeared to be one of the biggest incursions of its kind of the 15-month-old war.
Key points:
- Russian investigators have opened a terror investigation following the incursion
- Kyiv denies responsibility
- Fighting has eased around Bakhmut, which Ukraine says it aims to encircle
There was no immediate independent confirmation that the fighting had ended, although one of two groups claiming to be behind the raid said in a post on social media: "One day we will return to stay."
The two days of fighting had forced Russia to evacuate towns along the Ukrainian border.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the attack, which Kyiv denied. The two groups that claimed responsibility describe themselves as Russian armed dissidents.
The Russian military said it had killed more than 70 "Ukrainian nationalists" and destroyed four armoured vehicles. There was no independent confirmation of those losses.
Russian forces had surrounded the enemy fighters and defeated them with "air strikes, artillery fire and active action by border units", the defence ministry said.
"The remnants of the nationalists were pushed back to Ukrainian territory, where they continued to be hit by gunfire until they were completely eliminated," it added.
Russian investigators said on Tuesday they had opened a terrorism investigation following the attack.
Russian authorities evacuated residents from the region's Graivoron district after the raiding forces claimed to have captured the border town of Kozinka and several others.
"The cleansing of the territory by the Ministry of Defence together with law enforcement agencies continues," Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging service.
"I now appeal to the residents of the Graivoron district, who … temporarily left their homes, it is not possible to return yet," he said, adding that two buildings had been attacked by drones overnight.
Mr Gladkov said one woman had died during the evacuation, and there were reports of two people wounded.
The "number one" task on Tuesday was to reach them, he said.
On Monday, Mr Gladkov had said at least eight people had been wounded, several buildings damaged and many residents had left.
Kyiv denies involvement in raid
One of the groups claiming responsibility for the incursion, the Freedom of Russia Legion, said on Telegram: "Good morning everybody, except Putin's henchmen. We have met the dawn on liberated territory, and are moving further on."
It and a second group, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), said they represented armed Russian fighters opposed to the Kremlin and operating from Ukraine.
Moscow blamed the attack on Ukrainian forces, saying saboteurs were seeking to deflect attention from Russia's capture of the city of Bakhmut three days ago after the bloodiest land battle in Europe since World War Two.
Kyiv publicly denied blame for the raid, though some of its denials were pitched with apparent irony, to mimic past Russian denials of a role in separatist movements in Ukraine.
Kyiv "has nothing to do with it", tweeted Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
"As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerilla groups are composed of Russian citizens," he said.
The RVC published video footage late on Monday showing what it said was a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle, putting a sticker with the group's logo over the "Z" symbol used to identify Russian forces.
Another video showed what it said were fighters operating an armoured vehicle on a country road.
Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian servicemen and their identity documents.
Mash, a Russian news channel on Telegram, said drones had struck the roof of the Russian FSB security service building in Belgorod city overnight, nearly 80 kilometres from the district where the raid took place.
It posted a picture of emergency vehicles outside the building.
Ukraine says fighting eases in Bakhmut
Inside Ukraine, Russian forces are celebrating their first major victory in 10 months with the capture of Bakhmut.
Ukraine said on Tuesday fighting had decreased in Bakhmut but shelling continued in the area around it, with its troops keeping a small foothold on the city's edge and Russian forces clearing areas they hold.
Russian forces said on Saturday they had completely taken Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine after months of heavy fighting.
Ukraine said it had made advances on the devastated city's northern and southern flanks, and hopes to encircle it.
"In the city of Bakhmut, the fighting has decreased, the enemy continues to clear the areas under its control," Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Repeating Ukraine's assertions that its forces still hold a small part of the city, she said: "Our troops control the south-western outskirts of the city in the 'Litak' district."
She said Kyiv's forces had made some progress "on the flanks to the north and south of Bakhmut" but gave no details.
Russian offensive actions had decreased slightly, she said, and added: "At the same time, the amount of shelling is consistently high."
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
Moscow said capturing Bakhmut opened the way to further advances in the eastern industrial region known as the Donbas bordering Russia.
Ukraine said its advance on the Russian forces' flanks is more meaningful than its withdrawal inside Bakhmut itself, and Russia will have to weaken its lines elsewhere to send reinforcements to hold the shattered city.
Reuters/ABC
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