Russian authorities said Thursday that an attempted incursion on the country's southwestern border with Ukraine had been thwarted.“Border guards, together with other security forces, engaged in a battle on the border,” the Belgorod region’s emergency response center said.It did not provide further details.The statement was issued following rumors that a Ukrainian sabotage group had successfully infiltrated the Belgorod villages of Staroselye and Terebreno — which the emergency response center denied. Staroselye, which lies just across the border from Ukraine’s Sumy region, was evacuated in October 2022 due to ongoing attacks in the area.Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian regions bordering Ukraine have regularly reported shelling and drone strikes by Ukrainian forces. Cross-border incursions by pro-Ukraine armed militants have increased in recent months, with western Russia’s Bryansk region reporting at leastthree such assaults in August and September.Ukraine has denied responsibility for the attacks, blaming instead Russian partisan groups opposed to President Vladimir Putin.