KYIV: Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding three people in a small town.
Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin.
Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border.
The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were wounded by shrapnel in the assault. Three houses and an administrative building were damaged, he said.
In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a kindergarten and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Gladkov said.