Mr. Gladkov, the Russian governor, initially downplayed reports of violence, saying a “mass information attack” was underway, and tried to calm residents’ nerves in a video posted Monday morning. But by evening, he said he was putting the region on an anti-terrorism base, giving authorities broad powers to impose temporary restrictions on movement, step up identity checks and monitor telephone communications.
The Kremlin tried to play down the incident, with its spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov telling the Tass news agency that it was a Ukrainian attempt to “divert attention from the situation” in Bakhmut, the eastern city that Russian troops claimed to be in over the weekend. have taken. after a struggle of almost a year.
While there have been numerous reports of shelling by Ukrainians at targets across the border over the course of the 15-month conflict, ground attacks are rare. In early March, the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed to have conducted a brief raid on villages in Bryansk, another Russian region on the border with Ukraine.
The Russian Volunteer Corps is led by a Russian nationalist in exile and is part of a motley crew of Russian citizens who have opposed the regime of President Vladimir V. Putin and have taken up arms for the Ukrainian cause.
Russia suffered several psychological blows during the war, including the explosion that damaged the bridge connecting the occupied Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland and the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. But Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister who now advises his government, said this border incursion was a milestone because it involved armed forces, which could force Russia to deploy more of its troops along the border rather than along the border. the front lines.
It could also affect Russian unity, he said.
“Russians will see that they have problems between their own citizens, so the idea of united Russia is seriously damaged,” said Mr. Zagorodnyuk.
Oleksandr Chubko, Oleg Matsnev Milan Mazeva And Riley Mellen reporting contributed.
