"[5] On 2 March 2023, at around 11:30 MSK, Bogomaz reported that a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group made an incursion into Russian territory, entering the village of Lyubechane, Klimovsky District.

[7] At 14:30, TASS, citing eyewitnesses, wrote that the "Ukrainian saboteurs" had ceased showing signs of activity and may have left Russian territory.

[9][8] Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it acted together with the Russian military to "eliminate armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border".

[c][12][10][b] Two videos posted online on 2 March show armed men in combat gear calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps.

[14] RDK's leader Denis Kapustin said that the aim was to expose how weakly guarded Russia's border areas are and to inspire armed opposition against "Kremlin usurpers".

[11] On the day of the raid, Russian investigative journalism website iStories published an RDK member's account of the event; he said: "There were 45 of us on that mission.

"[16] The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said in a televised address that Ukrainian neo-Nazi "terrorists" crossed the border and targeted civilians.

[18] The Ukrainian government and military denied carrying out a cross-border raid,[2] and suggested Russia could use the allegations to justify further attacks on Ukraine.

[2] Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the President of Ukraine, wrote on Twitter: "The story of a Ukrainian sabotage group in the Russian Federation is a classic deliberate provocation".

[2] Podolyak suggested the attack could have been carried out by an anti-government group within Russia, saying: "The partisan movement in the Russian Federation is getting stronger and more aggressive".

[23] On 9 March, a video was released of some hooded and armed fighters claiming to be against "the regime of Putin" and inciting people to join them in front of the entrance sign to the village of Plekhovo, in Kursk Oblast, Russia.

[24] In late May, RVC, and other rebel groups allied with Ukraine began making more sizable incursions into Belgorod Oblast, Russia.