The Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 20 that it had summoned the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Holmes to protest what it called "provocative" reports by U.S. journalists from the Kyiv-controlled part of Russia's Kursk region who "illegally" crossed the Russian border. The ministry also claimed that "evidence" showed the presence of unspecified U.S. private military groups' involvement in Ukraine's ongoing incursion into the region, adding that "necessary investigative actions to bring them to justice" will be carried out.
