<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">An armed group has crossed from Ukraine into Russia's Belgorod region and clashes there have injured a number of people, Russian authorities say.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Russian forces were searching for "saboteurs" who, he said, had attacked Grayvoronsky district by the border.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Vladimir Putin's spokesman said the Russian president had been informed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine denies responsibility and said Russian citizens from two paramilitary groups were behind the incursion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Gladkov said eight people had been hurt, including two people admitted to hospital after a village was shelled and three people who were hit by shrapnel in the town of Grayvoron.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fighting had also damaged three houses and a local administrative building, and the situation remains "extremely tense", he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The governor said a "counter-terrorist operation" had been launched in the region, giving special powers to the authorities including on identity checks and communications surveillance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BBC Verify has been analysing footage from the Belgorod region that emerged on social media on Monday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So far, the team has located a video apparently filmed from a drone that features several armoured vehicles near a border checkpoint south of Belgorod. Additionally, BBC Verify has geolocated footage of helicopters operating in the region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The footage is recent, but it is hard to say for certain from the videos what the exact sequence of events is.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kyiv said those behind the ongoing incident were from groups called the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Liberty of Russia Legion - a Ukraine-based Russian militia which says it is working inside Russia to overthrow President Vladimir Putin - said on Twitter on Monday it had "completely liberated" the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the town of Grayvoron, further east.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that efforts were under way to eliminate the sabotage group, and said its purpose was to draw attention away from the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut - which a Russian mercenary group claims to have taken control of after months of intense and bloody fighting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We perfectly understand the purpose of such sabotage - to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction, to minimise the political effect of the loss of Artyomovsk [Bakhmut] by the Ukrainian side," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kyiv says it still controls parts of the city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Behind these attacks are Russian citizens who are fed up with the actions of their terrorist regime", commented Yurik Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World Tonight programme, he welcomed the developments and pointed to what he called a "growing trend of Russian partisan movements".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But he said he could not confirm or deny whether his country was harbouring or supporting the groups involved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The latest incident comes ahead of a widely expected counter-offensive by Kyiv against invading Russian forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Parts of Belgorod and several other Russian regions have come under artillery or drone attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russian officials have blamed the Ukrainian military, although Ukraine has denied responsibility for alleged sabotage attacks on Russian territory. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>