Anti-Putin paramilitaries enter Russian border regions

Ukraine-based paramilitary forces have attacked Russian forces in two border regions.

Two Russian fuel depots caught fire after they were targeted in separate drone attacks, regional governors said on Tuesday.

Pro-Ukrainian militias claimed they had crossed into Russian border regions and launched attacks, while Russia insists it beat back the raids, staged three days before it holds a presidential election.

Ilya Ponomarev, a former member of the Russian Duma, now acting as political head of the Freedom of Russia Legion, said that the raids had been carried out by his group in a “joint operation” with the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion.

The Legion claimed it was still clashing with Russian forces as of 1:15pm local time (10:15 GMT). 

It published a video from a drone purportedly showing a vehicle being blown up and fighters on the streets of the village of Tyotkino, on the border between Russia and Ukraine.