Moscow's defence ministry said Ukraine launched the attack with up to 300 troops, 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured combat vehicles
Moscow's defence ministry said Ukraine launched the attack with up to 300 troops, 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured combat vehicles AFP

Russia said Tuesday it was holding off Ukrainian troops, tanks and armoured vehicles trying to break across the border into its Kursk region, the latest in several such attempted incursions throughout the conflict.

Moscow's defence ministry said it had rushed troops and aviation units to the southwestern region after Ukrainian units tried to attack Russian positions just inside the border.

"Border defence troops, together with military units of the FSB border force, are repelling attacks and inflicting fire damage on the enemy," the defence ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

It said Ukraine launched the attack with up to 300 troops, 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured combat vehicles at 08:00 Moscow time (0500 GMT) and Moscow had responded with air strikes on Ukrainian positions.

The Russian governor of the Kursk region said three people had been killed by Ukrainian forces throughout the day -- a woman in the attempted border incursion and two people whose vehicles were hit in separate drone attacks.

The defence ministry said the attack was focused on the settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino and Oleshnya -- just across from Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region.

Ukraine did not comment on the reports but the head of the Sumy region military administration, Oleksiy Drozdenko, told residents to pay attention to air raid alerts.

Ukrainian forces said there was "cynical shelling" of border settlements in the Sumy and neighbouring Chernigiv regions.

Combatants from Ukraine have made several brief incursions into Russia since the beginning of the conflict, including with units of Russians fighting in support of Kyiv -- the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Russia has pushed back against the attacks and has sometimes needed to deploy artillery and aviation.

In May, Russian forces launched a new offensive, crossing the border into Ukraine's Kharkiv region and taking a string of settlements in what it said was a move to create a security zone to protect Russian border villages.

Russian authorities also said Tuesday that Ukrainian "saboteurs" had attempted a landing by sea on the Russian-held Tendra Spit in southern Ukraine.

"According to preliminary information, 12 high-speed craft were used -- eight of them with the saboteurs and four with fire support," Moscow-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo said on social media.

"Russian marines opened fire as the boats were approaching the Tendra Spit. Three boats were destroyed with their crews and sank. The others turned back," Saldo said.

Meanwhile Russia's defence ministry said its forces had captured another village in eastern Ukraine, the latest in a series of gradual advances in recent weeks.

Russian units "liberated the settlement of Timofeevka," it said on social media, using the Russian name for the village which is known as Timofiyivka in Ukrainian.

Earlier in the day, the head of Russia's General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, had visited troop positions in occupied parts of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said.

The general "heard reports from the commanders of units,.. summed up his conclusions and set tasks for future actions", the ministry said, posting video of Gerasimov meeting soldiers in underground locations.