Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on March 2, 2023 (SPUTNIK/Mikhail METZEL)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denounced a “terrorist” attack after Moscow reported an incursion by Ukrainian “saboteurs” into a region in south-west Russia bordering Ukraine, which Kyiv denied.
According to Russian authorities, two civilians were killed and an 11-year-old child injured after “saboteurs” opened fire on a car in the village of Lyubetchane in the Bryansk region, just on the border with Ukraine.
Russian news agencies, citing unnamed witnesses and officials, further reported that the alleged attackers may have taken hostages. AFP could not immediately verify these claims.
The Ukrainian Presidency has denied these allegations, calling them a “deliberate provocation” which it says is aimed at justifying the military offensive that Moscow has been waging in Ukraine for more than a year.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, several Russian regions have been the target of bombing. But the incursions of “saboteurs” are rare.
In a televised speech, Mr Putin denounced an attack by “neo-Nazis” and “terrorists” who had “opened fire on civilians”. “We will destroy them,” he said.
According to the Kremlin, Mr Putin has canceled a trip to the Russian Caucasus scheduled for Thursday to follow the development of the situation in the Briansk region.
Map of the front line around the town of Bakhmout in Donetsk Oblast that Russian troops want to capture (AFP/)
“We are talking about a terrorist attack. Measures are being taken to crush terrorists,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In the evening, the security services (FSB, heir to the KGB) confirmed that the situation was “under control”, “the Ukrainian nationalists” had been pushed back in the direction of Ukraine and there had been attacked by “a massive artillery strike”.
According to the FSB, a “large number of explosives” were discovered and clearing operations were underway.
– “Classic Provocation” –
According to regional governor Alexander Bogomaz, “a reconnaissance and sabotage group from Ukraine entered the village of Lioubetchané” in the Klimovsk district of the Bryansk region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow, March 2, 2023 ( SPUTNIK / Mikhail METZEL )
“The saboteurs opened fire on a moving vehicle,” killing two residents and injuring a child, he said.
This “story” of saboteurs “is a deliberate, classic provocation. Russia wants to scare its people to justify its offensive,” Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, responded on Twitter.
In two videos posted to social media, four men in work clothes posing as members of a group of “Russian volunteers” within the Ukrainian army claim to have invaded the Bryansk region.
In these viral videos, the authenticity of which AFP has not been able to verify, the men deny taking hostages or killing civilians and criticize Moscow.
In addition, Mr. Bogomaz reported on a Ukrainian drone strike on the village of Soukhany that burned down a house, as well as a mortar shelling that damaged two houses in the village of Lomakovka, also in the Bryansk region.
And in the Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine, one person was killed in a Ukrainian bomb attack on the village of Tetkino, according to authorities.
– “Filling” on the G20 –
Map of the situation in Ukraine as of March 2 at 8am GMT (AFP /)
Moscow this week reported a spike in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory and annexed Crimea. A plane crashed in the Moscow region for the first time.
According to local authorities, at least three people were killed and six others injured during a strike in a residential building in Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine on Wednesday night.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned an act by a “terrorist state”. “We will evict all inmates and they will be responsible for everything,” he added.
Ukraine on Thursday ordered people at risk to evacuate the north-eastern frontline town of Kupyansk, which is at risk of being taken by Russian forces, the military administration said.
Kharkiv region governor Oleg Synegoubov said several locations, including Kupyansk, had been bombed by Russian forces using multiple rocket launchers.
No diplomatic improvement either: a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G20 countries in New Delhi on Thursday was marked by deep divisions.
US President Joe Biden and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on September 21, 2022 in New York (AFP / Ludovic MARIN)
The participants could not agree on a final declaration because Moscow and Beijing refused to sign it.
Although the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov did have brief contact, the latter felt that the West had turned this G20 meeting into a “farce”.
US President Joe Biden receives German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday to deliver a message of unity to Moscow and Beijing after a period of tension between Washington and Berlin over discussions over the supply of tanks to Ukraine.
Mr Scholz on Thursday reported talks with Kiev and other allied countries on “future security commitments for Ukraine”.
Mr. Biden will also receive European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the White House on March 10 to also address support for Ukraine.