A group of Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine said today they had taken control of a Russian village near the Ukrainian border in an armed raid that Russian forces said they had repelled.

“The village of Tiotkino, in the Kursk region, is fully controlled by the Russian liberation forces,” the group, called the Legion for the Freedom of Russia, said in a Telegram post. “(Vladimir) Putin’s army is rapidly leaving the village, leaving positions and heavy weaponry behind,” he added.

A spokesman for the Russian team earlier told AFP that fighting was still ongoing in two areas.

Alexei Baranovsky, who spoke to AFP by phone at around 12:15 p.m. Greek time, said that fighting continued in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. “The Russian army has lost quite a few armored vehicles,” he said, but declined to specify near which communities the fighting was continuing, citing operational secrecy.

A little earlier, he had told AFP that the results of the operation would be known “in the evening”. He insisted that this attack was planned for this week because of Russian presidential elections on March 15-17, in which Vladimir Putin is expected to be re-elected.

“Swe express ourselves modestly, we express with weapons in hand what we believe about this regime, about the electionsBaranowski said.

The Russian military earlier said it repelled multiple attacks launched by Ukraine between 02:00 and 07:00 Greek time, noting that it repelled all attackers causing them heavy casualties.

The ground strikes followed multiple drone strikes overnight and this morning against targets in Russia. Two energy plants, including one 800 km from the border, were hit, causing major fires to break out, according to Russian authorities.

At noon (local time), the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladokov, however, reported “fire” aimed at the border village of Prilesie, citing material damage and a hit to a high-voltage power line. The regional capital Belgorod was targeted by a drone strike, according to the governor who said a business was damaged.