Shoigu on Wednesday reiterated claims the day before that the military had killed “more than 70 Ukrainian terrorists” after the attack. The information cannot be independently verified. According to the Defense Ministry, Shoigu told officials that Russia would continue to react “quickly and extremely harshly to such actions by Ukrainian fighters”.
Gladkow said via Telegram that air defenses repelled “a large part” but the attacks caused damage to vehicles, homes and public infrastructure. People were not harmed, Gladkow continued. According to the governor, several residential buildings, office complexes and vehicles were damaged by the attacks on Wednesday night, and the exact extent of the damage is still being determined. In addition, a pipeline in the Graivoron district was damaged and a fire was started.
Portal/Russian Defense Minister Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu
Moscow: bombings and explosions
According to the Russian account, men armed with armored vehicles from Ukraine entered the Russian border region of Belgorod on Monday, where there were shelling and explosions. The Russian side spoke of one dead and 13 wounded.
Since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the border region has been repeatedly bombed and dozens of people have been killed. However, the attack now occurred was the most serious incident of its kind on Russian territory since February 2022.
The background remained unclear. Two Russian groups targeting President Vladimir Putin – the Freedom for Russia militia and the Russian Volunteer Corps – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Portal/Telegram/Governor of Belgorod Region A destroyed house in Belgorod
Ukraine: intra-Russian crisis
Moscow accuses Kiev of planning the attack to divert attention from its alleged defeat in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine rejects any responsibility Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar spoke of an “internal Russian crisis” on Tuesday. It was an “internal crisis in Russia”, she said. “Kiev has nothing to do with this,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak wrote on Twitter on Monday. There are guerrilla groups in Russia made up of Russian citizens.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said again on Wednesday that Moscow was not concerned about what was happening in Belgorod. Soldiers, border guards and “responsible services” were doing their jobs, Peskov told reporters. Already on Tuesday he described attacks by “Ukrainian fighters” as a reason to continue the war against Ukraine.
The fighting on its own territory is seen as a setback for Russia, whose army currently appears to be making little progress in Ukraine – while, according to reports from Kiev, Ukraine is preparing for an offensive to recapture Russian-held areas.
AP destruction in Belgorod
“Anti-terrorist operation” ended in Belgorod
An anti-terrorist operation was also temporarily ordered in Belgorod, for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Similar rules were introduced around 1999 during Russia’s military action in Chechnya, giving additional powers to the police and army. The Russian State Investigative Committee has also initiated criminal proceedings on terrorism charges. Gladkow announced on Wednesday that the legal status of the “counter-terrorist operation” had ended.
More than 70 Ukrainian terrorists were killed and four armored vehicles and five SUVs destroyed, military spokesman Igor Konashenko said. The army reportedly used air strikes and artillery fire. In a video, the Ministry of Defense showed suspicions of air strikes against the attackers.
Moscow has not provided any information about its own losses. According to Konashenkov, some attackers had withdrawn into Ukrainian territory. But they were fought until they were completely liquidated. Monday’s attack on the Belgorod region was the “Kiev regime’s response to the defeat at Artemovsk”, the general said. In Moscow, the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is called Artemovsk after its former name.
More attacks announced
Meanwhile, the leader of the Russian militia announced new advances. “I think you will see us again on the other side,” Denis Kapustin, commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), told reporters on the Ukrainian side of the border on Wednesday. He introduced himself by the nickname “White Rex”.
“I don’t know what’s coming, I don’t even know the direction.” The Russian-Ukrainian border is quite long. “There will be another hot spot.” The RVC claimed responsibility for recent attacks on targets in Bolgorod.
Repeated sabotage in Russia
Residents of the region have been on permanent alert for months. Numerous evacuation orders followed at short intervals, and in April a Russian fighter lost ammunition over Belgorod. There were repeated explosions and, according to Russian information, civilians were also killed.
In other parts of Russia, too, there were repeated acts of sabotage, for example at ammunition depots and railway junctions. The last notable case occurred only in March, when several public buildings in the Bryansk region were briefly seized. At that time, too, the “Russian Volunteer Corps”, which is considered right-wing extremist, was involved.
limited influence
The “Legion of Free Russia”, however, was involved in the fighting in Bakhmut. Speaking to The New York Times (“NYT”), some of its fighters gave reasons for taking up arms against their own countrymen. These include moral outrage over the invasion, a desire to defend the adopted country of Ukraine and a dislike of Russian President Putin. The fighters have now gained the trust of Ukrainian commanders to fight alongside them, the paper said.
However, it also seems clear that its influence is limited. There is absolutely no evidence that such groups have widespread appeal in Russia, Michael Colborne of research platform Bellingcat told the New York Times. The number of members was in the hundreds. This does not affect Russian support for the Kremlin course. But the penetration into Russian territory is a propaganda success after the Bakhmut defeat. Russia failed to protect its own border.