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Kremlin Promises 'Measures' to Prevent Ukrainian Border Incursions

An armed police officer at a checkpoint in the village of Sachkovichi in Bryansk region. Sergei Bobylev / TASS

Russia will take measures to prevent border incursions from Ukraine following an alleged deadly attack by Ukrainian “saboteurs,” the Kremlin said Friday.

Russian officials claimed Thursday that two Ukrainian sabotage groups crossed into Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, killing two civilians, injuring a 10-year-old boy and wounding several Russian servicemen. Ukrainian officials dismissed the accusations, calling the incident a “provocation.”

"The terrorist attack in the Bryansk region will be investigated and measures will be taken to prevent such a thing from happening again,” President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. 

He added that the Kremlin does not yet plan to introduce martial law in Russia’s border regions in response to the attack. 

Putin plans to discuss the attack at Friday’s scheduled meeting of the Russian Security Council, Peskov said.

Peskov also said the Kremlin will award the injured 10-year-old boy, named Fyodor, for saving two children from bullet fire.

"Putin and everyone in the Kremlin admire the heroism of the boy who saved other children … his deed will be celebrated," Peskov said.

State media on Friday morning published photos of flyers reading “Fyodor is a Hero of Russia” which were allegedly posted in the Bryansk region. 

The United Nations on Thursday said it could not verify the claims of Ukrainian saboteurs in the Bryansk region, after Russian diplomats called on the body to assess the incident.

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