Russia claims it has defeated alleged incursion from Ukraine, a day after attack began

Russian troops and security forces quashed Tuesday an alleged cross-border raid from Ukraine, claiming to have killed more than 70 attackers in a battle that lasted around 24 hours, a senior Moscow official said.

It was not possible to independently confirm claims about the armed incursion into Russian territory that began Monday. Nor was it possible to say with any certainty who was behind the attack or what its aims were.

Disinformation has been one of the weapons of the almost 15-month war.

Moscow blamed the raid on Ukrainian military saboteurs. Kyiv portrayed the incident as an uprising against the Kremlin by Russian partisans. It wasn’t immediately possible to reconcile the two versions.

The battle took place in the Belgorod region, about 80 kilometers (45 miles) north of the city of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed the armed attackers were routed by local troop units, air