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Russian Soldiers Try to Infiltrate Ukrainian Cities With Assault Groups Disguised as Civilians
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Russian troops on the eastern front are intensifying efforts to penetrate Ukrainian defenses using small assault units, at times posing as civilians, but these attempts are being consistently thwarted by Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
This was reported by Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on January 28.
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“Beyond the large number of UAVs, the current war along all sections of the eastern front is marked by demonstrative attempts by the Russians to infiltrate cities with assault groups, sometimes dressed in civilian clothing,” Kovalenko said.
He noted that these actions are accompanied by parallel attempts to maneuver around Ukrainian positions.
“At the same time, Russia is attempting to stretch the flanks, bypass positions and encircle them, accompanying these actions with FABs and KABs, as well as attack drones,” Kovalenko said.
Despite this, Ukrainian forces continue to counter these tactics, he added.
“The hunt for enemy assault groups is ongoing at all times. Ukraine’s Defense Forces are managing to disrupt their plans and are even conducting certain raids,” he emphasized.
A similar incident was reported in southern Ukraine in December 2025. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Russian troops wearing civilian clothing attempted to infiltrate Ukrainian positions in the Huliaipole sector of the Zaporizhzhia region but were detected and killed.
The agency said that on December 10, a group of men in civilian clothes approached Ukrainian border guard positions, observed the defenses for some time, and then tried to slip past the lines and move into the rear under cover of bad weather. Their attempt failed when a radio carried by the group switched on during their movement, revealing that they were Russian soldiers.
Border guards eliminated a two-man sabotage group, and uniforms of the Russian armed forces were later found beneath the civilian clothing worn by the dead men, the service said.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Security Service of Ukraine detained a Belarusian citizen in Kyiv on suspicion of espionage for the Belarusian KGB and attempts to penetrate Ukraine’s military intelligence structures.
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