TOP HEADLINES

• The Russian commander of a militia that conducted a raid on a Russian border region this week said his group would soon launch more incursions into Russian territory. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia will react "extremely harshly" to further attacks by fighters entering its territory from Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday. READ MORE BELOW

• United States intelligence agencies believe that a drone attack on the Kremlin this month was likely orchestrated by Ukrainian spies or military intelligence, the New York Times said.

• A senior Ukrainian presidential aide said on Thursday that Ukraine had nothing to do with a "strange and pointless" drone attack on the Kremlin and played down the findings of two U.S. media reports. READ MORE BELOW

• Hundreds of thousands of South Korean artillery rounds are on their way to Ukraine via the United States, after Seoul reversed its initial resistance toward arming Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

• Central European companies are scouting out locations, signing contracts and launching projects deep in war-torn Ukraine, seeking a foothold for future reconstruction work that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

• Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it had detained two Ukrainian saboteurs who were plotting to blow up the power pylons of nuclear power stations in Russia, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

• Russia has replaced its Wagner private military units with regular soldiers in the outskirts of Bakhmut but the group's fighters remain inside the devastated city, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Thursday.

IN DEPTH

Anti-Putin militia promises more cross-border raids

Denis Kapustin, the Russian commander of a militia that conducted a raid on a Russian border region, has threatened to launch more such incursions.

Kapustin, who described himself as the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), spoke to reporters on the Ukrainian side of the border with Russia a day after Moscow said it had repelled the raid on the Belgorod region.

Kyiv has said the attack was carried out by Russian citizens, casting it as homegrown, internal Russian strife. Two groups operating in Ukraine – the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and Freedom of Russia Legion – have claimed responsibility.

The Russian military said it had routed the militants, who carried out their attack using armoured vehicles, and pushed those who survived back into Ukraine.

Kapustin said two of his fighters had been "lightly wounded" and that total losses on his side for the operation were two killed and 10 wounded. Moscow claimed it killed over 70 "Ukrainian nationalists."

Kapustin also said the fighters had taken a Russian armoured vehicle and anti-drone gun as trophies.

"I think you will see us again on that side," said Kapustin, who introduced himself by his call-sign White Rex. "I cannot reveal those upcoming things, I cannot even reveal the direction. The... border is pretty long. Yet again there will be a spot where things will get hot."

The RVC says it is made up of Russians fighting for Ukraine, and against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Our future plans are new territories of the Russian Federation, which we will definitely enter... You should be a just a little bit patient, and wait just a couple of days," Kapustin said.

The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League has described Kapustin as "a Russian neo-Nazi who lived in Germany for many years."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow will react strongly to further attacks by fighters entering its territory from Ukraine.

"We will continue to respond to such actions by Ukrainian militants promptly and extremely harshly," Shoigu declared. 

Ukraine denies it orchestrated Kremlin drone attack

A senior Ukrainian presidential aide said on Thursday that Ukraine had nothing to do with a "strange and pointless" drone attack on the Kremlin and played down the findings of two U.S. media reports.

The New York Times reported that assessments by U.S. spy agencies showed that a drone attack on the Kremlin this month was probably orchestrated by one of Ukraine's special military or intelligence units. Moscow blames the attack on Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, told Reuters in a statement that Russia was trying to reduce arms supplies to Kyiv by playing on Western fears of a possible escalation because of alleged Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil.

The newspaper said the attack appeared to be part of a series of covert operations that have made officials in the United States — Ukraine's biggest supplier of military equipment — uncomfortable.

The U.S. assessment was based on intercepted Russian and Ukrainian communications, the paper said.

The United States intercepted Ukrainian conversations in which officials said they believed their country was responsible for the attack, and also tapped into Russian communications which indicated it was not some sort of false-flag operation by Russia, it added.

"We immediately said that the Kyiv regime was behind this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the report.

"In the end, it doesn't make much difference which of the units of the Kyiv regime was behind this. The Kyiv regime was behind this, we know this, we are aware of it, and we shall proceed from this as we go forward."

U.S. officials said they do not believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs off on all covert operation, the paper said. It is unclear to what extent he is aware of such operations in advance, the officials were quoted as saying.

Russia accused Ukraine of trying to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin in the attack. Zelenskyy promptly denied any Ukrainian involvement.

The Kremlin has also said the United States was behind the drone attack, a view Washington dismissed as ridiculous.

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