The Kremlin expressed “deep concern” on Tuesday over the incursion of a “Ukrainian armed group” into Russian territory and called for “increased efforts” to combat the growing number of attacks.
“What happened yesterday (Monday) is of great concern and shows once again that Ukrainian fighters continue their activities against our country. This requires further efforts on our part. These efforts continue and the ‘special military operation’ (in Ukraine ) will continue so that this does not happen again,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
Russian troops and security forces say they have been battling an alleged surprise attack since Monday that Moscow blames Ukrainian military saboteurs.
Kiev denies responsibility, claiming it was an “uprising” by “Russian opponents” within the country itself.
A representative of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate blamed two groups of Russian volunteers who fought against the Kremlin: the Russian Volunteer Corps (CVR) and the Legion of Freedom for Russia (LLR).
The CVR posted videos of Monday’s attacks on its Telegram channel, while the LLR announced the “beginning of the invasion of Graivoron in the Belgorod region” where the attack took place.
“Russia will be free!” wrote LLR, which claims on its Telegram channel that it is “fighting against the dictatorial regime in Russia”.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod region along the border with Ukraine, said “Russian troops” were still deployed in rural areas near the town of Graivoron, where Monday’s alleged attack took place.
Gladkov said on Tuesday that Russia has evacuated civilians from nine cities in the Belgorod region and that “cleaning up the area continues,” referring to the infiltrated armed groups.
According to the governor, the Russian province has been attacked more than 40 times with “drones”, artillery and mortars in various locations between Monday and this morning, injuring 12 civilians and damaging 29 private houses.
Russia has opened criminal proceedings for terrorism against the perpetrators of the attacks in Russia’s Belgorod region, next to the border with Ukraine, which have been blamed on Ukrainian forces, the Russian Commission of Inquiry announced today.
“Measures are being taken to establish the identity of the attackers and all the circumstances of the incident,” the body responsible for the main investigations in Russia said in a statement quoted by the French agency AFP.
So far, the events reported by Moscow since Monday have not been independently verified.
In recent months, Russia has accused Ukrainian “saboteurs” of armed raids in the countryside.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries -, according to the latest data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and to impose on Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed 8,895 civilian deaths and 15,117 wounded since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the actual ones.
Source: DN
