Moscow says it is fighting Ukrainian ‘saboteurs’ on Russian territory

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - A battle is ongoing in Russia's Bryansk region to "neutralize" a group of Ukrainian "saboteurs," Russian authorities said on Thursday.

"In the border Klimovsky district of the Bryansk region, the FSB (Federal Security Service) of Russia and the forces of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation are taking measures to destroy armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border," the security service said in a statement.

According to Bryansk region’s Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz, a group of Ukrainian "saboteurs" crossed the border with Russia on Thursday morning.

"Today, the sabotage and reconnaissance group penetrated from Ukraine to the territory of the Klimovsky district in the village of Lyubechane. Saboteurs shot a car. As a result of the shelling, one resident was killed, and a ten-year-old child was injured," Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.

Citing multiple sources in law enforcement, the Russian state-run news agency TASS said the battle with “several dozen armed fighters” is ongoing in Lyubechane and Sushany villages.

According to TASS, the Ukrainians took six people hostage.