The Russian Volunteer Corps, a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed Monday that its members had reentered Russian territory.
"Yesterday, Russian border guards celebrated their professional holiday. The fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps congratulated them by successfully crossing the 'holey' state border once again," the group wrote in a Telegram post.
The group published photos of armed men in a field, but the pictures don't clearly indicate where they were taken. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the photos.
"The aim of our incursion will be evident in the near future," the Russian Volunteer Corps added.
The group's claimed incursion comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of protecting borders near the combat zone in his Border Guard Day address on Saturday, calling it “a separate and very significant task.”
Last week, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the anti-Putin Freedom for Russia Legion claimed responsibility for a cross-border attack in Russia’s southwestern region of Belgorod.
The chief of the private military Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed last week that Russian defense forces are “absolutely not ready to resist the Russian Volunteer Corps in any shape or form.”