Russia says foiled Ukrainian attacks, captured village

MOSOCW: Russia said Tuesday it had repelled land and sea attacks by Ukrainian forces and claimed the capture of another village in eastern Ukraine.
The governor of Russia’s Kursk region said a woman was killed after Ukrainian forces attempted border incursions.
“Today we are getting information from the Sudzha and Korenevo districts about attempts by Ukrainian armed forces to break through into the Kursk region,” acting governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on Telegram.
He said that border guards and Russian soldiers “had prevented the border from being breached.”
Sudzha and Korenevo are close to Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
Ukraine did not comment on the reports but the head of the Sumy region military administration, Oleksiy Drozdenko, told residents to pay attention to air raid alerts.
Combatants from Ukraine have made several brief incursions into Russia since the beginning of the conflict.
These have involved units of Russians fighting in support of Kyiv — the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.
Russia has pushed back against the attacks but has sometimes needed to deploy artillery and aviation.
In May, Russian forces launched a new offensive, crossing the border into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and taking a string of settlements.
The Mash Telegram channel, seen as close to Russian security forces, wrote that the Ukrainian attack on Kursk began in the early hours involving small groups of Ukrainian soldiers and fighters from the Russian Volunteer Corps.
Russian authorities also said that Ukrainian “saboteurs” had attempted a landing by sea on the Russian-held Tendra Spit in southern Ukraine.
“According to preliminary information, 12 high-speed craft were used — eight of them with the saboteurs and four with fire support,” Moscow-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo said on social media.
“Russian marines opened fire as the boats were approaching the Tendra Spit. Three boats were destroyed with their crews and sank. The others turned back,” Saldo said.
Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had captured another village in eastern Ukraine, the latest in a series of gradual advances in recent weeks.
Russian units “liberated the settlement of Timofeevka,” it said on social media, using the Russian name for the village which is known as Timofiyivka in Ukrainian.
The head of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, visited troop positions in occupied parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the defense ministry said.
The general “heard reports from the commanders of units,.. summed up his conclusions and set tasks for future actions,” the ministry said, posting video of Gerasimov meeting soldiers in underground locations.