Ukrainian forces snuck into Russia, raided military positions, and mined the only road in the area, Kyiv says

• Ukraine's military intelligence agency said its forces staged a raid across the border into Russia.
• During the assault, Kyiv's troops engaged in heavy combat and attacked Russian positions.
• The Belgorod region, where the recent incursion took place, has seen raids previously in the war. 

Ukrainian forces executed a cross-border raid into Russia, where they attacked military positions, inflicted a number of casualties, and mined the only road in the area, Kyiv said on Friday.

In a statement shared to the social media platform Telegram, Ukraine's military intelligence agency said its troops carried out the assault just over the border into Russia's western Belgorod region and that it was intended to protect civilians who live near Russia and who suffer from attacks by Moscow. It's unclear when, exactly, the raid took place.

The Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence, an arm of the country's defense ministry also known as the HUR, said it had gathered information that Russian military leadership planned to inspect positions in Belgorod after receiving complaints from troops about poor conditions there. The HUR said it then planned and carried out the raid to inflict losses and deal a blow to Russia's morale.

During the raid, Ukrainian forces used small arms and mortars to attack the Russian positions and detonated mines that they had placed along the only road in the area, the HUR said. It added that Russia suffered losses without specifying the exact number of killed and wounded.

The HUR shared a video of the raid, during which Ukrainian soldiers can be seen sneaking through a forest, laying mines on a road, engaging in heavy firefights, and striking Russian positions.

Ukrainian soldiers have made previous incursions behind enemy lines.

Kyiv's forces conducted multiple landings on the occupied Crimean peninsula over the past few months. These raids, however, appear to have been largely symbolic. It's unclear if the latest demonstration is more of the same or served a larger purpose.

Kyiv-backed assaults specifically targeting the Belgorod region, located just east of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, aren't a new phenomenon.

The Freedom of Russia Legion — a Ukraine-based band of militants who oppose the Kremlin — have carried out multiple cross-border raids into the region since May 2023, where they have attacked Russian positions, generally wreaked havoc, and even taken over villages.

The Belgorod region, home to some 1.5 million people, has also been a focal point of recent aerial attacks.

On Dec. 30, the Russian defense ministry blamed Ukraine for firing missiles and rockets at the area, which killed over two dozen people and injured more than 100 others. Moscow said in a Telegram statement that the incident "will not go unpunished" and, on Wednesday, claimed to foil another Ukrainian attack on the region.

The Dec. 30 strikes came just one day after Russia launched its largest air attack against Ukraine since the full-scale war began nearly two years ago. Officials said Moscow on Dec. 29 fired nearly 160 missiles and drones at targets across the country — including civilian areas and critical infrastructure — killing dozens of people and injuring more than 150 others.

Just four days later, on Jan. 2, Russia unleashed another massive bombardment, hurling more than 130 missiles and drones at various targets across the country, with the bulk of the strikes directed toward Kyiv. This attack left five people dead and 130 others injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said later in an address to the nation that the past few days had seen Russia launch around 300 cruise and ballistic missiles and 200 explosive one-way attack drones at the country.

"Prior to Ukraine, no country in the world had ever successfully repulsed such combined attacks with the use of drones and missiles," he said. "Each additional air-defense system and missile saves more lives. It is here, in Ukraine, and with our air defense, that we must demonstrate that democracies are capable of protecting lives from all types of terror."

"If we fail to achieve this task in Ukraine now, Russian terror will further spread throughout Europe and beyond," Zelenskyy added.

His words of caution come amid uncertainty over the future of US security assistance to Ukraine, as additional funding remains held up in Congress, despite urgent pleas from Ukraine, the Biden administration, and allies in Europe who have warned of the consequences that waning support for Kyiv could bring.