Accusing Terrorist Attacks on Borders by Ukraine, President Putin: We will destroy them

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia was hit by a terrorist attack in the southern Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, vowing to destroy what he said was a Ukrainian sabotage group shooting at civilians.

In contrast, Ukraine accused Russia of a false "provocation", but also suggested that some form of operation was carried out by Russian anti-government partisans.

Amid reports of sporadic shelling and sabotage, Russia's border region has become increasingly unstable since Moscow invaded Ukraine a year ago.

Putin, in a televised address, accused the group of shooting civilians in cars, including children. Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said the attack had killed two people and injured an 11-year-old boy.

"They will achieve nothing. We will destroy them," President Putin said, saying the group consisted of people who wanted to rob Russia of history and the language, Reuters reported, March 3.

The same day, four members of the Russian National Guard were injured when their car hit a mine in the village of Sushany, just across the border from Ukraine, said Alexander Khinstein, a senior federal lawmaker.

The four had taken part in the operation to secure the area, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The FSB security service initially said the army and the FSB were trying to liquidate "Ukrainian nationalist armed groups" that had crossed the border.

It later said the situation was under control and a large quantity of explosives had been recovered, while mine clearance was being carried out. There was no mention of earlier reports by the state news agency of any hostages.

In two videos circulating online, gunmen calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps said they had crossed the border to fight what they called "Putin's bloody regime and the Kremlin."

Describing themselves as the liberators of Russia, the people called on Russia to take up arms and rise up against the authorities. They said they weren't shooting at civilians.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters law enforcement agencies would determine who was responsible.

Separately, Presidential Advisor to Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter: "The story of (a) Ukrainian sabotage group in the RF (Russian Federation) is a classic deliberate provocation."

He said Russia "wanted to frighten its people to justify attacks on other countries and increasing poverty after years of war."

A spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence said the sabotage group was a sign of internal strife.

"These are people who with weapons in their hands are fighting the Putin regime and those who support it... Maybe Russia will start to wake up," Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian outlet Hromadske.

This week, President Putin told the FSB the need for the agency to increase its vigilance against espionage and what he called terrorist threats emanating from Ukraine and the West.