"Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported separately today: the front, our presence in the Kursk region, and our presence in the Belgorod region. We continue to take active actions in the border areas on the enemy's territory, and this is absolutely fair — the war should return to where it came from," said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in an evening address.
The first reports of attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to break into the Belgorod region appeared on March 18. Ukrainian units began an offensive in the area of the villages of Demidovka and Grafovka in the Krasnoyaruzhsky district. A week later, they also attempted to approach the settlement of Popovka, which is located just north of Demidovka.
Later, videos appeared showing the presence of Ukrainian military in Demidovka and Popovka, as well as videos of shelling of these villages from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
This may indicate that these villages are in a "gray" zone and are not controlled by either side.
On the map of the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState, all of Popovka and part of Demidovka are marked as a gray zone, the Finnish OSINT project Black Bird Group on its map notes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to take control of Popovka and part of Demidovka, as well as a section of the forest belt near Prilesye.
Military analyst Yan Matveev* reported that the Russian Armed Forces are pulling additional reserves into the Belgorod region: if earlier only the "Akhmat" and "Anvar" battalions were present on the section from the Russian units, now Z publics mention the 38th motorized rifle brigade and the 155th marine brigade.
"It turns out that the plan of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to stretch Russian forces is working. <...> The Belgorod front has been holding for three weeks, helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine to delay the start of a large-scale Russian offensive in the Sumy region. It is also not possible to transfer reserves from the Kursk region — now they are needed in Belgorod," Matveev believes.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent".