HANDOUT / AFP
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pictured here in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, May 19, 2023.
WAR IN UKRAINE – Two days after a spectacular attack by Ukrainian groups on its territory, Russia will respond “extremely decisively” to renewed armed attacks, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu promised on Wednesday, May 24.
“We will continue to respond promptly and extremely vigorously to such actions,” he said at a meeting with senior military officials.
On Tuesday, his army claimed to have used its air force and artillery to “smash” a group that had attacked the Belgorod border region the day before, in the most spectacular incursion into Russian territory since the conflict with Ukraine began. The incursion, claimed by Russian armed groups based in Ukraine to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin, marks a new failure for Russia, whose army is embroiled in Ukraine.
Drone attacks in Belgorod
Several voices among pro-Russian military bloggers, who have been particularly influential in the Ukraine conflict narrative, were moved by this incident. Above all, they ironically praised this “military success”, which came a few days after Moscow claimed to have taken Bachmout in the Donbass.
This incident also comes in the context of the multiplication and intensification of attacks and acts of sabotage in Russia, at a time when Kiev, according to its own statements, is completing preparations for an offensive to retake the territories claimed by the Kremlin. According to Russian authorities, a civilian was killed in the attack in the village of Kozinka, one of the places attacked, and a woman died of heart failure during the evacuation.
According to the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, numerous drone attacks were also aimed at the Belgorod region during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. “The night wasn’t really quiet. There have been numerous drone attacks. Air defense took care of many of them,” he said on Telegram.
10,000 Russian prisoners killed in action
He said the attacks damaged vehicles, homes and public buildings in the area but caused no casualties. The governor also said nine civilians injured in Monday’s invasion of Belgorod remain hospitalized, with three in intensive care.
This Wednesday, the Russian defense minister pointed out that the amount provided for financial assistance to soldiers wounded in combat and families of soldiers killed in Ukraine will each be “a one-off grant of (between) 3 and 5 million “ trade rubles” (at the current exchange rate between 35,000 and 58,000 euros).
A recent leak of classified US documents on March 1 put Russian casualties at 35,500 to 43,500, compared to 16,000 to 17,500 for Ukraine, but these figures remain estimates that cannot be verified. On Tuesday night, Russian Wagner militia leader Yevgeny Prigogine admitted that 10,000 of the 50,000 Russian prisoners he drafted to fight had died.
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