Belgorod region has in the past month reported a series of cross-border incursions from pro-Ukraine Russian partisan groups calling themselves opponents of President Vladimir Putin.
According to Reuters, Kadyrov, a Putin ally who leads the Russian region of Chechnya, said that fighters from the "Zapad-Akhmat" battalion had been deployed near the border village of Nekhoteevka and a checkpoint in Graivoron district, the site of a cross-border attack in May.
"Residents of the territories adjacent to the border with Ukraine can rest easy ... Whoever encroaches on our borders will receive a lightning response," Kadyrov said in a post on Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine denies involvement in the cross-border attacks, casting them as a direct consequence of Russia's February 2022 military operation.
MNA/PR