Armed groups which claim to be made up of Russians opposed to the Kremlin have vowed that attacks in Russian border regions will continue.

Several of the Ukraine-backed paramilitary groups launched incursions last week into the Kursk and Belgorod regions and claimed to enter several villages.

Russia, meanwhile, said it had repelled the groups, which it sees as puppets of the US and Ukraine’s military.

In a news conference today, Denis Kapustin, leader of one of the units, the Russian Volunteer Corps, said: “The operation, even right now, is continuing. We will talk about our losses after its conclusion.”