Russia's defence ministry on Thursday said it had thwarted three Ukrainian attacks on the Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.
State-owned news agency TASS cited the defence ministry as saying that its forces had prevented Ukrainian units from crossing the border into Russia, and that Kyiv's forces had been driven back.
Earlier, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people had been wounded and some buildings damaged in overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces. He said a residential building in the border town of Shebekino had been set ablaze after being hit by Grad rocket systems.
(Reporting by Reuters)