The Forward Observations Group (FOG), an alleged private military group from the United States that is currently helping Ukraine in its offensive in Russia's border region of Kursk, has been operating in the military conflict zone in Ukraine for over two years, a Sputnik correspondent has found.
The group attracted media attention after it shared photos of its team members taking part in Ukraine's military incursion into Russia's Kursk Region last week. The group's official account on Instagram* shared a controversial photo showing three members of the group posing in front of a military vehicle, with the caption saying "The boys in Kursk" and the post’s geolocation tagged as "Kursk, Russia." On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Charge d'Affaires Stephanie Holmes to lodge a protest in connection with the actions of US mercenaries in the Kursk Region.