Regional Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Thursday that Ukrainian saboteurs infiltrated the border area of the Bryansk Region. The latest information revealed that two civilians were killed and a child was wounded in an assault by a group of Ukrainian soldiers.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), which carried out a security operation with the Defense Ministry troops to eliminate the Ukrainian forces, stated that the situation is under control of law enforcement agencies and clearance work is underway.

The Russian President, on the other hand, called the incursion an act of "terorrism."

Circumstances of the attack

The Bryansk Region's governor reported that Ukrainian raiders hit an automobile with gunfire, killing one person and wounding a child, after saboteurs infiltrated the village of Lyubechane in the Kilmovsky District bordering Ukraine. 

Two more borderline settlements in the region were attacked, Sushany was hit by a Ukrainian drone while Lomakovka was shelled by mortars, according to the governor. 

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Several armed saboteurs made an attack on Lyubechane and Sushany, which are both located about 15 km from each other, according to a source to TASS.

The FSB reported that its security forces, in conjunction with "assigned Russian Defense Ministry troops," launched "measures to eliminate the armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border." It also reported that the situation in Klimovsky is controlled by enforcement agencies and that mine clearance is underway as "a large volume of explosives of various types" were discovored in the area. 

Casualties and injuries

The reported casualties includes two deaths in the attack and an injured child. Another child, (11), suffered wounds from the assault in the Lyubechane village, but is not in critical condition. According to the governor, he was taken to the Bryansk Regional Hospital. Doctors revealed that a bullet shot from a NATO-standard weapon was removed from his body. 

As many as six people were abducted and held hostage by Ukrainian saboteurs, according to security sources to TASS, but nothing is officially confirmed. As part of the abductions, a rural paramedic was held hostage but then released. 

'A terrorist attack' 

The Russian President described the attack on the Bryansk Region "a new act of terror," stressing that saboteurs were targeting civilians. Putin stressed that Ukrainian nationalist "puppet masters" ignored the crime and affirmed that Russian enemies "will not succeed," adding that "we will crush them." 

It is worth noting that Putin canceled his trip to Pyatigorsk earlier and remained in the Kremlin, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said. He adds that the President is being briefed on the situation in the Bryanks Region by the Russian National Guard Director Viktor Zolotov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov and Governor Bogomaz of the Bryansk Region.

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Peskov also described the saboteurs’ raid on the Bryansk Region as a terrorist attack, but gave no answer regarding whether this event may prompt a change in the status of the special military operation in Ukraine.