Governor unable to say for sure if Ukrainian forces have entered Russia’s Belgorod region

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov appeared unable to immediately confirm or deny the presence of Ukrainian troops in the region on Saturday afternoon, describing having received “conflicting information” about events in the village of Poroz on Saturday.

Video footage circulating widely on social media appeared to show Ukrainian soldiers in Poroz, a village in Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, where according the Gladkov, around 10 residents remained.

In the footage, which potentially represents an embarrassing fresh breach of Russia’s state border by the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s (AFU), five men in military uniform holding a Ukrainian and a Georgian flag can be seen in front of what appears to be the Poroz Farmers’ Club. One of the men introduces the group as soldiers from the AFU’s 252nd Territorial Defence Battalion.

While it was not possible to verify the video’s authenticity or confirm when it was made, the building shown in the footage does resemble images of the Poroz Farmers’ Club available online.

“On the one hand, we’ve all seen the video shot in front of the village hall, but on the other, residents who just left say that they hadn’t seen the enemy or heard any shooting”, Gladkov said, adding that local security forces would “need to investigate” what was going on and that he hoped that the situation would “stabilise by the end of the day”.

Gladkov also said that roads into Poroz had been closed as part of the counter-terror operation that was launched in the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions on Friday.

Poroz is located around 3 kilometres from the Belgorod region’s border with Ukraine and approximately 100 kilometres south of the Kursk region town of Sudzha, which has seen intense fighting between the AFU and Russian troops for much of the past week.

Belgorod authorities have reported frequent shelling attacks on Poroz and other villages lining the region’s border with Ukraine in recent weeks, including on Saturday morning.

Russian pro-war Telegram channel Rybar said that Ukrainian “saboteurs” had indeed managed to reach the village, where they recorded the video before “hastily retreating, capturing two local residents in the process”.

Zapiski Veterana, another pro-war Russian Telegram channel, also reported that Ukrainian soldiers had entered Poroz under artillery cover and recorded the video to “exert informational pressure” on Russia before leaving shortly afterwards, though it made no mention of hostages being taken.

News channel Baza, which has links to Russia’s security services, reported that local police had received a tip-off about Ukrainian saboteurs entering the region disguised as priests.

Neither Kyiv nor Moscow have yet made any official comment on the footage.