A quick armed incursion right into a Russian border village by partisans claiming to struggle for Ukraine drew an emergency response from the Kremlin on Thursday, prompting President Vladimir V. Putin to cancel a visit and convene his safety council over a uncommon identified case of a raid inside Russia.

What really occurred was instantly shrouded by conflicting claims from pro-Kremlin voices and their opponents, although by the top of the day, the Russian authorities had asserted that the incursion was over and that the group had been pushed again into Ukraine.

Mr. Putin, who referred to as off a visit to the Caucasus area to be briefed, denounced the episode as a “terrorist” assault, a label Russia continuously applies to navy setbacks within the battle in Ukraine, and to the periodic explosions on Russian territory believed to be Ukrainian strikes.

In a televised deal with, Mr. Putin stated, with out providing any proof, that the group had opened hearth on civilians. The governor of Bryansk, Aleksandr V. Bogomaz, stated on the Telegram messaging app that the group had fired on a automobile, killing two civilians and injuring a baby.

The Russian Volunteer Corps, a bunch against Mr. Putin and led by a nationalist in exile, claimed on Thursday that it had briefly taken management of the small village, Lyubichane, within the Russian area of Bryansk, close to the border with northeastern Ukraine.

The group posted a video on-line of two armed males exterior what gave the impression to be a medical constructing in Lyubichane. That footage couldn’t instantly be verified, however the group additionally posted one other video {that a} New York Occasions evaluation confirmed had been taken in Shushany, a village about 10 miles to the south in the identical area.

It’s unclear whether or not the group operates with the assent of the Ukrainian authorities, because it claims, although it has been combating towards Russian forces. The group stated on Telegram that it “got here to Bryansk area to point out the compatriots that there’s hope, that free Russian individuals with weapons of their fingers can struggle the regime.”

Russian state information companies issued conflicting experiences concerning the episode all through the day. They initially claimed that saboteurs had taken as much as six individuals hostage, however later walked that again, reporting that native officers had no details about hostage-taking.

The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, instructed reporters that “all measures are presently being taken to liquidate these terrorists.” Russia’s Tass state information company stated the group had already left Russia by Thursday afternoon.

Ukraine has made no secret of its assaults on Russian positions in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces. However in the case of cross-border assaults, it has maintained a coverage of strategic ambiguity, with officers being intentionally obscure or making cryptic statements about explosions or incidents inside Russia’s borders.

Ukraine is believed to have struck inside Russia on a number of events, together with in December, when a drone launched from Russian soil hit a navy base within the metropolis of Ryazan. Russia’s Protection Ministry on Wednesday stated that its forces had foiled an assault by 10 drones on targets in Crimea however on Thursday it didn’t point out blasts in Crimea in its every day bulletin.

On Thursday, Ukrainian officers tried to border the episode in Bryansk as a symptom of inside Russian schisms.

“It is a signal that Russia can not perform usually, and this results in inside destruction,” Andriy Cherniak, a consultant for Ukraine’s navy intelligence, stated in a cellphone interview.

Oleksiy Danilov, the top of the Ukrainian Nationwide Safety and Protection Council, stated in an announcement that Moscow was dealing with “a motion of Russian antifascist militias.”

However there’s widespread assist among the many Russian public for the Kremlin, and there’s no proof that the Russian Volunteer Corps or different armed teams combating towards the Kremlin have a broad attraction inside Russia.

“This incursion appears to have benefited one group of individuals alone, and that’s the Russian Volunteer Corps,” stated Michael Colborne, a researcher for the information group Bellingcat who is concentrated on the far proper, and who believes the group’s members are within the low a whole bunch at most. “Telegram is their major technique of communication, they usually’ve greater than doubled their subscribers from 16,000 to 33,000 in sooner or later now.”

Mr. Putin has used the battle to additional assert his dominance over Russian life, driving away residents against the invasion and cultivating a romanticized view of the navy regardless of its steep losses and stumbling efficiency on the battlefield over the previous 12 months.

Russia’s newest offensive in japanese Ukraine — like its total battle effort over months — has struggled to realize floor, dropping important numbers of tanks, armored personnel carriers and troops in Ukrainian ambushes, minefields and artillery strikes. However bolstered by the mobilization of a whole bunch of hundreds of males, Russia’s navy has continued with its assaults and has inched ahead within the metropolis of Bakhmut, which has been just about annihilated by months of combating.

The Russian navy has additionally continued to fireplace long-range missiles and drones at Ukraine’s cities and vitality grid. A Russian missile slammed into an condominium constructing within the metropolis of Zaporizhzhia early Thursday, killing 4 individuals, Ukrainian officers stated.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine condemned Russia for the assault, saying on Telegram that “the terrorist state desires to show day by day for our individuals right into a day of terror.”

Some Russian supporters of the battle — together with Konstantin Malofeev, an ultranationalist tycoon — cited the Bryansk incursion to demand an escalation of the battle.

“The final crimson strains have been erased right now within the Bryansk area,” he wrote on Telegram. “Now anybody who even whispers about peace can be an confederate of terrorists.”

The combating is predicted to accentuate within the coming months. Senior Ukrainian officers have just lately hinted that Kyiv may start a counteroffensive quickly, presumably within the Zaporizhzhia area, and indicated that Russia has strengthened its troop presence there.

Daniel Victor contributed reporting.