MOSCOW. May 22 (Interfax) - The Defense Ministry, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Border Service of Russia have informed President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin about an attempt by Ukrainian saboteurs to break through into the Belgorod region, and efforts are in progress to push them from Russian territory and eliminate them, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said, adding that there are sufficient forces and hardware for that at the site.
"The Defense Ministry, the FSB and the Border Service have informed the president of the Russian Federation and the supreme commander-in-chief about an attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage group to break through into the Belgorod region. Work is being conducted to push them from Russian territory and to eliminate this sabotage group," Peskov said.
"The forces and hardware that are at the site are sufficient for that," he said.
Peskov suggested that the Ukrainian saboteurs' operation is intended to divert attention from the Bakhmut sector.
"We perfectly understand the goal of such acts of sabotage - to divert attention from the Bakhmut sector, minimize the political effect from the Ukrainian side's loss of Artyomovsk," he said.