Ukraine launches attack on Belgorod region, pro-Kremlin sources say

Ukrainian forces have launched an attack on border posts in the southwestern region of Belgorod, Telegram channels linked to Russian security services said on Tuesday. Regional officials reported an attempt to “to break the border.”

The Telegram channel Mash reported that around 200 Ukrainian soldiers were stationed near the Nekhoteyevka checkpoint and another 300 near the Shebekino checkpoint, where they were allegedly fired upon by Russian border guards.

Shot, an anonymously operated Telegram channel with alleged ties to the Kremlin, claimed the attack on Nekhoteyevka was repelled, but disputed Mash's report of fighting in Shebekino. Instead, Shot claimed Russian forces had entered the Ukrainian town of Vovchansk in the neighboring Kharkiv region.

This was confirmed by the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov “the enemy tries to break through the border” but tried to downplay the threat.

“According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the situation at the border remains difficult but under control.” Gladkov wrote on Telegram. He later reported Ukrainian attacks on three border villages, including artillery shelling in Petrovka, less than ten kilometers from Nekhoteyevka.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented on the reported border clashes, saying only that air defense systems shot down several drones over the Belgorod region during the night and morning.

Kyiv has also not commented on the reports. However, Ukrainian officials confirmed an incursion into the neighboring Kursk region on August 6 only several days later.

The Ukrainian forces in Nekhoteyevka were “in terms of personnel and numbers about the same as in the first minutes of the Kursk invasion,” The Kremlin-funded broadcaster RT quoted the military telegram channel Voyennaya Khronika.

It was not immediately possible to verify these claims.