Today is election day in Russia, and it is quite obvious who will emerge victorious as the country's next president. However, Ukraine has chosen the eve of election day and into Friday to send a 'message' - while apparently losing a lot of men in the process.
There have been repeat significant cross-border ground and shelling attacks from Ukraine in the past 48 hours. Russia's defense ministry (MoD) announced Friday morning that it "repelled" the latest major attempted incursion in the Belgorod region on the border.
The MoD claimed its forces, including border security services, took out some 50 invaders in the assault. Russian media summarized of the military's statements: "The team was then targeted by Russian artillery and military aviation. The territory through which other Ukrainian troops could reach Kozinka to prop up the advance force was remotely mined."
The statement continued, "The Ukrainians were then forced out of the village, with survivors running into the freshly placed minefield and getting killed, according to the statement. An attempted evacuation was stopped by rocket artillery."
Russian media has further published videos and images which purport to confirm that attempted major cross-border incursion. The same groups from a similar Tuesday raid appear to have been behind the newest attack - mostly made up what have been described as anti-Putin Russian nationals collaborating with Kiev.
President Putin on Friday addressed the string of cross-border attacks, describing there had been "four attacks on the Belgorod region and one attack on the Kursk region by armed Ukrainian proxies numbering about 2,500."
Putin additionally said the invading militants had 35 tanks and 40 armored vehicles, as cited in Reuters. He estimated that about 60% of the invading force was killed.
But it was fresh drone attack and shelling on Belgorod city Friday that resulted in Russian civilian casualties. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that during the attack air defenses shot down ten inbound "aerial targets".
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