Cross-border incursions into Belgorod and Kursk regions — Key Events — Ukraine–Russia

What happened

A recurring campaign of raids into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk border regions by Russian formations fighting on Ukraine's side — the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and, in 2024 reporting, the Siberian Battalion — peaking around the March 2024 Russian presidential election. Distinct from the August 2024 Kursk incursion, which was conducted by regular Ukrainian forces.

The raids traded little ground for large signal: they contested the premise that the war stays outside Russia, tied down border forces, and gave the anti-Kremlin formations a political identity — at the price of participation claims that are unusually hard to verify on every side.

Confidence: Moderate

WhenMay 2023 – Mar 2024

WhereBelgorod / Kursk regions (RU)

KindMilitary · Territorial change

ArenaThe eastern front

Confidence: Moderate Sources: Established international media reporting · ISW campaign assessments ↗ Methodology Corrections

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Connected records

3 records that this event names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Participants3

Organisations this event records, with the role and confidence it states.

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Ukraine–Russia timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.