FROM OUR REPORT IN KIEV – “There will be more attacks,” Free Russia Legion political representative Ilya Ponomarev told Corriere on Thursday. And yesterday some soldiers from his legion invaded Russia again to “occupy” tracts of land and hurt the pride of the superpower. By this time, Kiev’s artillery was shelling Russian cities from north to south along the border.
The 1,200 kilometers of Ukraine where the army of Kiev and the occupying forces of Moscow face each other were not enough. These are the provinces that Moscow invaded between 2014 and 2022 and that the Kremlin wanted to annex. Now, however, Russia must understand that threats can emanate from any point on its 1,500-kilometer legally recognized border separating it from Ukraine. The Free Russia Legion’s incursion covered a few kilometers inside the Russian province of Belgorod, but Kiev’s artillery fired bombs almost everywhere across the border. The cities of Maslova Pristan, Shebekino and Smolensk are particularly affected. Explosions were reported in five Russian regions: Belgorod, Kursk, Kaluga, Bryansk, Smolensk. Limited attacks with a few cannon shots or a few armed drones, but enough to make the Russians feel unsafe while at war. According to Moscow, two women were killed by Ukrainian cannon fire as the Legion blamed Russian security forces for attempting to attack the Legionnaires.
In fact, another front has opened up. Attacks by Ukrainians (or by Russian rebels like Ponomarev’s) could come from any other stretch of the infinite and flat border, as well as from secret domestic movements to oppose Putin’s regime.
Perhaps the Russian president was thinking of this threat, or of a conspiracy between the 190 ethnic groups that make up the federation. The fact is that only yesterday Vladimir Putin sounded the alarm again. Some “evil villains are stepping up efforts to destabilize the country.” In perfect Soviet fashion, he immediately reassured citizens by saying “that he has given instructions to his government that this should not happen under any circumstances”.
Ponomarev’s legion fights under orders from Kiev, but consists of anti-Putin Russian citizens. The ultimate goal of these ground operations, such as drone strikes on Moscow and Ukrainian bombing of Russian border regions, is to weaken the Putin regime. This could lead to his defenestration and presumably to the end of the war. In the short term, however, the goal is to disperse Russian forces and pave the way for recapture. An analysis by British intelligence confirms the hypothesis. According to London, the Kremlin had to ask itself explicitly whether it was better to defend the occupied provinces of Ukraine or the Russian territories bordering the enemy. According to the General Staff in Moscow, the choice was to defend both.
After the raid of the Free Russia legion on May 22, various heavy weapons and related accessories were brought to the motherland from the occupied territories of Ukraine. We are talking about Tos-1a attack helicopters and thermobaric rocket launchers. With this daring of Putin, the number of soldiers and the means used in the occupation of Ukraine have always been less than necessary, and the need to disperse them in defense of the Fatherland aggravates the situation. The goal of reducing the already small Russian forces defending Donbass, Crimea and the other occupied provinces would thus already be partially achieved.
After Bakhmut’s conquest in mid-May, the Russians stopped. Clashes at the front are rare, the Russians are now reinforcing the trenches to withstand the counterattack from Kiev. Russian tactics seem to mirror Ukrainian ones: disruptive actions to disperse enemy forces in the rear. At the same time, inner morale is weakened. Rocket or drone attacks on Ukrainian cities are gradually increasing. 36 Russian aircraft were intercepted yesterday alone. Two Ukrainian civilians injured.