A Russian nationalist militia fighting alongside Ukrainian forces claimed on Tuesday to have killed two Russian intelligence agents during a raid on Russian territory.
The Russian Volunteer Corps, which has carried out armed raids in the Russian Federation, said the action took place in the Bryansk region, which borders northern Ukraine.
Bryansk Governor Alexandr Bogomaz said Monday night that the Russian army and Federal Security Service (FSB) troops had thwarted a sabotage attempt by Ukrainian secret services on Russian territory.
The governor’s version was denied by the militia in a statement on social networks quoted by the Spanish agency EFE, in which, ironically, he congratulated the FSB “for another successful operation.”
The group further claimed that the two Russian agents allegedly killed were killed by the militia itself and not by the Ukrainian sabotage group mentioned by the Bryansk governor.
In recent months, the Russian authorities have denounced several sabotage attempts, which they attribute to Ukrainian forces, in the Russian border regions with Ukraine, in Belgorod and Bryansk, in which several civilians were killed.
The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom for Russia Legion, another militia of Russian exiles, carried out the most notorious action on March 22 and 23, when they managed to control several towns in Belgorod for hours.
Although kyiv claims to have nothing to do with these actions, both formations use Ukrainian Army equipment, in some cases Western-made.
The two militias are also authorized to launch these attacks from Ukrainian territory, according to EFE.
The information published by Ukraine and Russia about the course of the war started by Moscow on February 24, 2022 cannot be immediately verified by independent sources.
Ukraine has been receiving weapons from Western allies, who have also imposed sanctions on Moscow to try to reduce its ability to finance the war effort.
The official number of civilian and military casualties from the conflict is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, admit that it will be high.
Source: TSF
