Russia denounced this Thursday that a group of Ukrainian fighters entered the country through the south of the territory and shot at civilians, an accusation that Ukraine rejects and describes as a “deliberate provocation”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Russian military “protected Russia and its people from neo-Nazis and terrorists (…) who committed a new terrorist attack, infiltrating our border territory and opening fire on civilians,” he said in a statement. televised speech.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Briansk local authorities announced Thursday operations to “eliminate” a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” infiltrated in the region, which is 400 kilometers southwest of Moscow.
“The situation in the towns of the Klimovski district of the Bryansk region is under the control of the security forces. A large amount of explosives of different types was found,” the FSB later said, according to Russian news agencies.
The FSB confirmed the death toll of one civilian and one wounded child that regional governor Alexander Bogomaz had previously announced when he said that “a reconnaissance and sabotage group entered the town of Lyubechane through Ukraine.”
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are taking all necessary measures to eliminate this group,” it added. According to the governor, “the saboteurs opened fire on a moving vehicle.”
The Ukrainian group took hostages, according to Russian news agencies Ria Novosti, TASS and Interfax, citing witnesses and security force sources. AFP could not verify this information with independent sources.
In two videos posted on social media, four uniformed men, claiming to be members of a group of “Russian volunteers” from the Ukrainian army, claim to have infiltrated Briansk. In the recordings, the authenticity of which was also not verified by AFP, the men deny taking hostages or killing civilians and criticize Moscow.
At the same time, the Security Adviser of the Ukrainian Presidency, Mikhailo Podoliak, described the statements as a “deliberate provocation” by Russia to “scare its population and justify” the offensive on neighboring territory.
Podoliak said that the incident could be related to the action of Russian “militiamen”, who operate with guerrilla methods. Russia’s border regions with Ukraine have been the target of several shelling attacks since the start of the conflict, but it is unusual for authorities to file reports of a group of saboteurs.
Source: TSF
