Ukrainian forces have hung on to positions in the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut, while Moscow says its security forces are battling Ukrainian saboteurs who had taken hostages in a cross-border raid.
Moscow said a group of armed Ukrainians had crossed into Russia’s Bryansk province, fired on a car killing a civilian, and were holding hostages in a shop near the border.
An aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called the reports a provocation by Moscow, but also implied some form of attack had indeed been carried out, blaming Russian partisans.
