Russia Says It Has Thwarted Ukrainian Incursion, Killed 234 Fighters

Russia claimed that Moscow’s military has killed 234 Ukrainian-based fighters who were trying to lead an incursion into the country on Tuesday according to an AP report.

A Defence Ministry statement blamed the attacks on the “Kyiv regime” and stated that “the Russian military and border forces were able to stop the attackers and avert a cross-border raid. It also said the attackers lost seven tanks and five armoured vehicles.”

Countering Russia’s claims the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Siberian Legion having according to a Kyiv Independent report claimed that they are already operating within Russia and have put up videos on social media to show the same. Both groups who are made up of Russians who are based in Ukraine. They are fighting to overthrow President Putin.

“Like all our fellow citizens, in the Legion we dream of a Russia freed from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s dictatorship,” the Freedom of Russia Legion wrote on Twitter.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made no comment on the attacks.

The attacks and the casualties, which cannot be independently verified, come just ahead of the presidential elections in Russia. The elections are scheduled from March 15-17. President Putin is expected to win.

The attacks came with a flurry of drone attacks launched by Ukraine in the Belogrod border region on Tuesday, the second day of these attacks. According to the Russian defence ministry, 25 drones fired from Ukraine had been intercepted in over seven regions in Russia.

According to an NBC report while the ministry did not confirm any damage, local governors had claimed oil and energy facilities, and one was set ablaze in the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 480 miles from the Ukraine border.  Ukrainian accounts on X too claimed that Russian oil depots had been hit.

These strikes, however, cannot mask Ukraine’s need for artillery. According to a Politico report, European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has stated that the bloc can only send half of the promised one million rounds of ammunition by March. The main problem for Kiev is the US where Republicans continue to block a proposed $110 billion aid bill which includes $61 billion for Ukraine and the rest for funds for Israel and Gaza.

The US has recently sent a $300 million aid package to Ukraine, but NSA Jake Sullivan has claimed that it is nowhere near enough.