KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As reports continue to emerge of a military incursion into Russia from Ukraine, the head of Russia’s Kursk border region on Wednesday urged local residents to donate blood.
Alexei Smirnov, Kursk’s acting governor, said on Telegram that blood banks were stocking up because of the fighting.
“In the last 24 hours, our region has been heroically resisting attacks” by Ukrainian fighters, Smirnov wrote, adding that all emergency services were on high alert.
If confirmed, the alleged cross-border foray could potentially draw Russian reserves to the area, weakening Moscow’s offensive operations in several sectors of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region where Russian forces have ramped up attacks to make the most of the remainder of the summer fighting season.
But it could also risk stretching outmanned Ukrainian troops further along the front line, which is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that up to 300 Ukrainian troops, supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored combat vehicles, had crossed into Russia and suffered heavy losses.
It said Wednesday that military and border guard troops on Wednesday “continued to destroy Ukrainian military units in the areas alongside the border in the Kursk region.”
The ministry said that Russian forces backed by artillery and warplanes “didn’t allow the enemy to advance deeper into the territory of the Russian Federation.” It added that “the operation to destroy Ukrainian military units is continuing.”
Ukrainian officials declined to comment, and it wasn’t possible to verify the Russian claims.
Responsibility for previous incursions, into Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions, have been claimed by two murky groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, which are made up of Russian citizens and have fought alongside Ukrainian forces.
Disinformation and propaganda have played a central role in the war, now in its third year.
Some Russian war bloggers who have proved knowledgeable about the war said that Ukrainian soldiers were in Kursk.
Rybar, a Telegram channel ran by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a retired Russian Defense Ministry press officer, said that Ukrainian troops had seized three settlements in the region and continued to fight their way deeper into it.
Another pro-Kremlin military blog, Two Majors, claimed that Ukrainian troops had advanced up to 15 kilometers (10 miles) into the region.
Neither of the claims could be independently verified.
Russian forces have swiftly repelled previous cross-border incursions, but not before they caused damage and embarrassed authorities.
The Kursk region’s border with Ukraine is 245 kilometers (150 miles) long, making it possible for saboteur groups to launch swift incursions and capture some ground before Russia deploys reinforcements.
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