Russia Dispatches Reinforcements to Tackle Ukrainian Cross-Border Attacks in Kursk Region

The Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed active combat is taking place in the Kursk region near the border with Ukraine and says it is sending reinforcements to the area.

According to Moscow's statement, Ukrainian armed forces launched an attack on Russian border positions near the settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino and Oleshnya in the Kursk region on the morning of Tuesday, August 6.

“Today at 8:00 a.m. Moscow time, up to 300 militants from Ukraine's 22nd Mechanized Brigade, supported by 11 tanks and over 20 armored vehicles, attacked Russian border positions in the Kursk region,” the message on Russia's Defense Ministry Telegram channel read.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its forces are “actively repelling the attack” and targeting AFU's positions both at the border and within Ukraine’s Sumy region.

“Army aviation is being deployed effectively against enemy armored vehicles, and Russian reserves are moving into the conflict zone.”

Local media have circulated videos purportedly showing the situation in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region.

One video posted by the Astra media outlet featured fighter aircraft overhead and a burning vehicle.

“F**ing sh*t, planes are flying overhead, fighters, the car is burning down,” comments over the video can be heard.

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The authenticity of the video, provided by Astra, has not been independently verified by Kyiv Post.

The acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, earlier stated that Ukrainian forces attempted to penetrate the region's Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts early on Tuesday morning.

“The fighters of the border guard service of the FSB of Russia and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not allow the border to be breached,” Smirnov stated.

Russian “Z“ milbloggers and local media outlet channels earlier reported clashes along several sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border.

“There are ongoing battles at several sections of the state border. The enemy [AFU] managed to cross the border by a few hundred meters in a narrow section of the front with a small group, but they have been stopped and are being eliminated,” the Two Mayors Telegram channel reported.

“According to intelligence reports, Kyiv has decided to create a media event like the spring events in the Belgorod region, so ‘Tik Tok units’ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine may appear soon.”

Ukraine’s General Staff has yet to comment on the incident, but the head of the Sumy region military administration, Oleksiy Drozdenko, told residents to pay special attention to air raid alerts.

Throughout the ongoing war, there have been multiple attempts to breach the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions by units such as the “Russian Volunteer Corps,” the “Freedom of Russia Legion,” and the “Siberian Battalion,” who fight alongside Ukraine and are linked to the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR).