Russia said armed insurgents who crossed the border from Ukraine to launch attacks in Russia’s Belgorod region had been defeated.
Villages near the border have been evacuated after being bombed in one of the heaviest crossborder attacks since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Russia says 70 attackers were killed and insists the militants are Ukrainians. However, Kiev denied involvement and two Russian paramilitary groups said they were behind the raid.
Monday’s attack prompted Moscow to declare an antiterrorist operation and give authorities special powers to restrict people’s communications and movements.
The measures were only suspended on Tuesday afternoon and yet one of the paramilitary groups claimed to still control a “small but our own piece of fatherland”.
Claims by the opposing sides have not been independently verified, but any attack on Russian soil makes NATO leaders nervous, and the development could be a mixed blessing for Kiev.
“These are Russian patriots”
The Russian Defense Ministry said a “unit of the Ukrainian nationalist formation” entered its territory and was responsible for the heavy shelling of the Kozinka checkpoint and other parts of the surrounding area.
The ministry said it not only killed dozens of socalled “Ukrainian terrorists” by artillery and air strikes, but also claimed to have driven the rest of the militants back to the Ukrainian border.
But Ukrainian officials said the attackers were Russians belonging to groups known as the Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).
“These are Russian patriots who want to change the political regime in the country,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television.
The Russian Freedom Legion said on Twitter Monday it had “completely liberated” the border town of Kozinka and its forces had advanced as far as the town of Grayvoron to the east.
The group stated that they were continuing the liberation of the Belgorod region and that Russian forces could not oppose them.
Separately, the RVC released video Tuesday afternoon of its fighters moving toward what appeared to be a border checkpoint and said it still controls a “little… piece of home.”
Both paramilitary groups also told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspinne that they are “creating a demilitarized zone on the border with the Russian Federation from which they cannot bomb Ukraine.”
“Raid plays with the Russian narrative”
The crossborder push could embarrass Moscow and, to some extent, offset Ukraine’s bleak prospects of allegedly losing control of Bakhmut after months of intense and bloody fighting.
It is also likely to be part of Ukraine’s preparatory operations for its next counteroffensive aimed at pulling Russian troops out of the south, where Kiev is expected to attack.
But it’s not a development likely to be welcomed by the West.
The longrange weapons they provided to Kiev, while not used in this attack, are still subject to the condition that they are not used to attack targets inside Russia.
Despite official denials from Kiev, it is hard to believe that this attack was launched without the help of the Ukrainian military intelligence service.
This fits with the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia’s own sovereign security is under attack by malevolent Westernbacked forces.
It’s a narrative likely to be fueled by reports that some of the attendees are associated with farright extremism, underpinning Moscow’s claims that it is trying to rid Ukraine of neoNazis.
Thousands displaced
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several people were injured in the fighting, including two civilians who were being evacuated from their homes.
Gladkow said people in several villages had been evacuated and warned those who had fled their homes not to return just yet. while Russian forces are conducting what he calls a “cleansing operation.”
He added that air defenses shot down drones overnight, damaging buildings.
According to local authorities, temporary shelters have been set up in the Grayvoronsky district for around 9,300 displaced people.
The BBC confirmed that among the victims was a building belonging to the Russian secret service FSB. It is not clear what caused the damage.
SOURCE: BBC