Putin Defectors Vow To 'Liberate Russia' As Tanks Roll in From Ukraine

Ukrainian military units formed by Russians have attacked territory within Russia, three days before polls open in the election which is expected to see Vladimir Putin retain power.

Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that armed groups had probably entered Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions in armored vehicles—backed by mortar and artillery fire, according to the War Gonzo Telegram channel.

Citing Russian security sources the channel, said there were about 50 people in the unit, and after shelling from the Russian side, they retreated to their original positions.

The militia groups Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps, which both back Kyiv against Moscow's aggression, said on Tuesday they were "on the attack." In a video statement, an unnamed member of the Freedom of Russia Legion said, "We are not coming to kill, erase or punish...we come to liberate you from poverty."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Both groups published videos to Telegram that appeared to show their fighters, along with armed vehicles, entering villages in at least one of the border regions, with gunfire heard in one video. It was unclear where and when the videos were shot.

The Freedom of Russia Legion said on Telegram that its forces had "destroyed" a Russian armored military vehicle in the village of Tyotkino in the Kursk region.

Posted on its social media channel was driver's seat footage taken in the dark of an armed vehicle on the move. "Tanks are not afraid of mud," the post said. "Crossed the Rubicon, crossed the border."

Kursk regional Governor, Roman Starovoit, said in a video message on Telegram the attack had targeted the village of Tetkino, located next to Russia's border with Ukraine. "A sabotage and reconnaissance group attempted to break through," he said. "There was a firefight, but there was no breakthrough."

Authorities in the Belgorod region have not confirmed any incursion over the border when reporting a string of Ukrainian overnight drone attacks across the region.

Russia's Federal Security Service denied reports armed militia groups had managed to enter the Kursk and Belgorod regions, saying that it had "stopped several attempts to violate the state border" since Sunday, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency GUR, told Ukrainian media that Russian volunteer groups were not acting under orders from Kyiv and that "on the territory of the Russian Federation, they act absolutely autonomously, on their own, and pursue their social and political program tasks."

Last summer, cross-border incursions by pro-Ukraine armed militants were reported, the deadliest of which took place in the Belgorod region town of Shebekino in June.

Update 03/12/24, 5 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.