PUTIN'S terrified troops appear to have been caught running for their lives after Russian insurgents reportedly captured a village.
The Ukraine-supporting rebels stormed across the border into Russia on Tuesday in an unprecedented two-pronged assault - and have now vowed to "march on Moscow".
Fighters from the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), Siberian Battalion (SB) and Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) are believed to be jointly battling government troops in the regions of Belgorod and Kursk.
At the start of their tank-led attack, the FRL vowed to "take our land from the regime centimetre by centimetre".
The legion later claimed: "The village of Tetkino, Kursk region, is fully under the control of the Russian liberation forces.
"Putin's army is rapidly leaving the village, leaving behind positions and abandoning heavy equipment."
Unverified footage appears to show Russian forces fleeing the Kursk region.
The guerrilla fighters claimed Russian tanks had pulled back too - but the Kremlin denied this.
Russia's defence ministry insisted rebel breakthrough attempts were thwarted and claimed more than 234 'Ukrainian' troops had been killed and several tanks destroyed.
Ukraine's armed forces denied their involvement in the attack and said the paramilitary groups are "independent organisations" of Russian citizens who are operating at "home".
Despite Moscow's claims, the partisans tonight promised a "long hot night" for their enemy and said battles were still raging.
Alexei Baranovsky, an FRL volunteer, told : "All our groups are still located in Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts.
"The whole situation is underway.
"Today, we only saw the first part of the multi-act play."
Baranovsky also told that they hope to "march on Moscow" at the end of their "most ambitious operation to date".
He said their ultimate goal was to ensure the "liberation of Russia from Putin".
He added: "We may not be able to pull it off now, but that is our overarching mission.
"This marks a new milestone for the resistance movement."
Dramatic footage taken earlier on Tuesday captured the insurgent groups' tanks passing a settlement in the Belgorod region.
Another clip appeared to show an armoured personnel carrier being blown up.
A woman can be heard shouting from her window: "Tanks are coming... What is this?"
The legion, which formed in spring of 2022 with the explicit aim of toppling Putin's regime, has been gaining in strength.
Putin is very, very afraid of us
Caesar, Freedom of Russia Legion commander
Prior to the Wagner Group's explosive, but aborted mutiny in June, fighters from the Freedom of Russia Legion had stormed across the border in tanks and led the biggest assault on Russian soil since Putin rose to power.
In a days-long battle in May, they “liberated” eight villages in the Belgorod region, even taking Russian soldiers captive and embarrassing Putin on the world stage.
The legion's political representative, former Russian MP Ilya Ponomarev, claimed another village, Lozovaya Rudka in Belgorod, was also under their full control.
He previously described the FRL to The Sun as a "well established military force".
The devout Kremlin enemy said it was "by far the largest resistance network inside Russia".
In December, The Sun spoke to a senior commander in the legion, Caesar, who vowed Russia is ready to explode and they will help light its fuse in 2024.
He warned Russia that his "warriors" will stop at nothing to “free our motherland” and “save Ukraine” in the process.
From a secret bunker near Ukraine's frontline, Caesar, 49, said: "We are the first military regiment who clearly and loudly says that only a struggle by force can change the power in Russia."
The anti-Putin partisans have been scaling-up their secret operations and preparing for an armed struggle. "That's why Putin is very, very afraid of us," he added.
The commander said they have a combined force of thousands of brave Russians behind them - those who are willing to risk their lives to secure a “brighter future” for Russia.
The pro-Ukrainian guerrilla attacks came the same day that Ukraine rained down hell on Russia with one of their largest kamikaze drone strikes of the war so far.
Two of Putin's oil refineries - hundreds of miles behind enemy lines - went up in flames after being bombarded early on Tuesday.
A Russian IL-76 jet was also filmed as it exploded mid-air and crashed in a fireball yesterday in the the latest disaster from Putin's creaking and dilapidated military.
