Ukrainian official: two Russian border regions are now active combat zones

A senior Ukrainian intelligence official said on Thursday that armed groups he described as Russians opposed to the Kremlin were pressing an incursion into Russian territory and had turned two border regions into "active combat zones," Report informsç citing Reuters.

But the governor of one of the Russian regions hit by the attacks said, after a visit to villages in the area, that hostile troops were no longer there.

Three Ukraine-based groups issued statements saying they were pursuing armed operations in Belgorod and Kursk regions and asking residents to evacuate localities for their own safety.

"Kursk and Belgorod regions are now areas of active combat action. This is what we confirm," Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for the GUR intelligence directorate, told national television.

"And as stated by the volunteers and rebels, we are talking about Russian citizens who, having no other options, are defending their civil rights with arms against the Putin regime."

Vyachslav Gladkov, governor of Russia's Belgorod region, said in an account posted on Telegram that there were no Ukrainian forces in one of the areas that had come under attack.