Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of a cross-border incursion by a Ukrainian "sabotage" group, the Kremlin said on Monday.
"The defence ministry, the FSB (security service) and the border service reported to the Russian president... about an attempt of a Ukrainian sabotage group to break into the Belgorod region," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.
Peskov said the incursion was designed to "divert attention" from Bakhmut and "minimise" Ukraine's loss of the eastern city, which Moscow claimed to capture.
