Russian authorities this Tuesday (23) lifted the anti-terror regime in the Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine, after the Defense Ministry announced the “liquidation” of self-proclaimed Russian guerrillas who had attacked several cities the day before.
“A decision has been made to cancel the regime of anti-terrorist operations in the Belgorod region”, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote in Telegram.
This is reported by the local government “due to the criminal actions of the saboteurs, 13 civilians have suffered injuries of varying degrees and are receiving medical attention” and confirmed the death “of heart failure” of an 82-year-old woman.
“During the inspection of the crime scene, means of transport, automatic weapons and ammunition used by the saboteurs were found and seized. The sappers cleared the territory in search of explosives”, added the Belgorod government.
Russia’s Defense Ministry today announced the elimination of all Russian “saboteurs” who attacked the Belgorod region on Monday, noting that “more than seventy Ukrainian terrorists were liquidated” during the operation.
Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov underlined that some of the attackers were driven off to Ukraine, where Russian artillery continued to attack them “until they were completely knocked out”. Four armored vehicles were also destroyed.
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”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today admitted his “deep concern” over the raid by saboteurs and assured that the military campaign in Ukraine must therefore continue.
While he ruled out Russian President Vladimir Putin holding an extraordinary meeting with Russia’s Security Council devoted to the raid, he admitted that the matter would be dealt with at Friday’s usual meeting.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar today called “patriots of Russia” the fighters “rising against Putin’s regime”.
Malyar attributed the armed actions to “the desire of (Russian) citizens to change the political system of the country and stop this bloody Kremlin war”.
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).
Source: DN
