On 22 May 2023, armed groups from Ukraine carried out a cross-border raid into Belgorod Oblast, Russia. Two Russian rebel groups allied with and based in Ukraine—the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC)—claimed to have taken control of several border settlements, and clashed with Russian government forces. The Polish Volunteer Corps participated in the raid. Russian authorities said the attacks were conducted by a Ukrainian "sabotage group", and imposed counter-terrorism measures in the region. It was the largest cross-border attack during the war since the initial beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

On 1 June, another incursion began near the town of Shebekino, with the RVC announcing that the promised "second phase" of the fighting had begun. This time, the Belarusian volunteer Terror Battalion participated in the raid. A spokesman for the Freedom of Russia Legion said their goals were to draw Russian troops away from other parts of the front, and to encourage rebellion against the Russian government. On 12 March 2024, Russian rebels launched another major cross-border operation in Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts.

Several attacks in Western Russia, primarily in Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts, were reported since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. Russia accused Ukraine of being responsible for these attacks. According to The Moscow Times, in June 2022, "Ukraine [had] not claimed responsibility for the attacks ... while not formally denying being behind them."

Following an attack against Belgorod in April 2022, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, joked that these events were related to the establishment of a "Belgorod People's Republic". The information warfare spawned satirical calls to "hold independence referendum in Belgorod region". Calls and text messages from unknown numbers and telegram chats were sent to residents of the region: "They call us BNR, that is, the Belgorod People's Republic, in their Ukrainian chats. By analogy with the LNR and DNR", a local resident said in July 2022.

In March 2023, the Russian Volunteer Corps, a Russian nationalist group fighting against the Russian government, claimed responsibility for a brief incursion into neighboring Bryansk Oblast.

Late on 21 May 2023, Belgorod Oblast officials claimed that a quadcopter had dropped explosives on a government building in the village of Golovchino.

On 22 May 2023, footage emerged on Russian Telegram channels showing an apparent military raid on the Russian border checkpoint in the Grayvoronsky District of Belgorod Oblast. Later that day, Belgorod Oblast governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced via Telegram that a "Ukrainian military sabotage and reconnaissance group" had entered the district, saying that Russian forces were "taking the necessary steps to eliminate the enemy". He said there were explosions and drone attacks in the district. The deputy head of Grayvoron's municipal administration and two emergency workers were reportedly wounded in an attack that damaged the town hall.

The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the incursion, announcing that the two groups working together had taken control of the villages of Kozinka, Gora-Podol, and Glotovo [ru] and that forward units had reached the district capital of Grayvoron. They claimed to be creating a "demilitarized zone". The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that Kozinka had indeed been captured by the paramilitaries, but that it was unclear if the other settlements were as well. In this incursion participated the Polish Volunteer Corps, a Polish volunteer military unit created in mid-February of the same year. They would only confirm this on 4 June after posting images on Twitter proving their involvement; up until that point, there had been reports from Russian soldiers that some of the saboteurs spoke Polish.