Ukrainian border guards just stopped a group of Russian saboteurs

Russian saboteurs attempting to covertly cross into Ukraine along the country's northern border were just apprehended by authorities according to the Ukrainian Interior Minister. 

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko revealed border agents caught what they believed to be a group of Russian saboteurs who entered the country somewhere along Ukriane's shared border with Russia in Chernihiv Oblast. 

"Last night…border guards stopped an attempt by an enemy saboteur-reconnaissance group to cross the state border,” Klymenko wrote according to a translation from Reuters. 

The Ukrainian Interior Minister added that the incident took place near the community of Semenivka, a city in Chernihiv Oblast that is quite close to Ukraine’s border with Russia. 

Klymenko went on to explain that four people were spotted by border guards with help from a thermal imager that showed the would-be saboteurs were coming from Russia. 

The border agents allegedly opened fire on the group of saboteurs, a situation that was later explained in more detail by the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

“An attempt to cross Ukraine’s state border by an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group was stopped last night,” Lieutenant General Sherii Naiev wrote in a message on his Telegram channel according to Ukrainska Pravda translation. 

The lieutenant general added the information that the four suspected people spotted by Ukrainian border guards were armed, which is probably why they were quickly fired upon. 

Naiva explained that after a senior officer at the border outpost made the decision to fire on the group of saboteurs, an alarm was signaled and army reservists advanced to the scene. 

“Thanks to the skillful actions of the units of the Defense Forces, the enemy once again suffered losses and did not achieve the goal,” the lieutenant general concluded. 

This isn't the first time Russian saboteurs have been apprehended in Ukraine, and it shows the growing problem Kyiv has had with spies and reconnaissance groups operating within its borders.

One of the most brutal incidents of an alleged Russian agent helping to direct a missile attack that struck a popular restaurant in the city of Kramatorsk according to BBC News. 

The attack ultimately killed 11 people and injured 61 more based on initial reporting from the Associated Free Press at the time, but what made it different was the agent who allegedly helped the Russians.

BBC News reported a Ukrainian man and resident of Kramatorsk provided the Russian military with video footage of the restaurant just hours before it was attacked and destroyed. 

This type of homegrown saboteur has proved to be very effective at assisting Russian forces, though Kyiv’s has been hunting these traitors since the war broke out in 2022. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian Parliament signed a series of bills into law allowing the government to detain collaborators shortly after the war began in February 2022 according to PBS NewsHour.