Russia stated that it had “destroyed” the men who entered its territory in the Belgorod region, although hours later Russian sources claimed the opposite, such as the spokesman for the Legion Freedom for Russia, which guaranteed territorial control of 20 square kilometers of that border area.
Two Russian armed groups – who have been fighting alongside the Ukrainians – raided a border post northwest of Kharkiv on Monday, to which Belgorod’s governor responded by activating the “anti-terrorist state” as unconfirmed news realized it had Russian army had removed nuclear weapons stored a few kilometers away.
The reply from the Russian authorities arrived the next day. According to the Russian news agency TASS, which quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, “as part of an anti-terrorist operation, the Russian army destroyed Ukrainian nationalist formations that had infiltrated the Grayvoronsky district of the Belgorod region”, which amounted to on “about 70 Ukrainian terrorists eliminated”.
On the part of the population, there were 12 wounded and the death of an elderly woman during the withdrawal. “The rest were sent back to Ukraine, where they were hit by fire until they were completely eliminated,” Konashenkov said, showing aerial footage of explosions.
For the Kremlin, nationality does not matter, but the fact that they are “Ukrainian nationalists”.
In the morning, the Kremlin spokesman had expressed “deep concern” about the development of events – during the night two drones will have hit the FSB building and another from the Interior Ministry – although he said there was no emergency meeting was planned to the case. Dmitry Peskov devalued the nationality of the gunmen who entered his territory and classified them as “Ukrainian militants”, the same ones Moscow said were responsible for the special military operation. “This confirms once again that Ukrainian militants continue their activities against our country. This requires a major effort on our part,” Peskov said.
Kiev, for its part, reiterated that no soldier on Russian soil is Ukrainian, with Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar explaining that “this is Russia’s internal dynamic, dictated by citizens’ desire to change the country’s political system and create a end the bloody war that the Kremlin unleashed”.
Dynamics consisting of two very different groups that agreed to carry out this joint operation. While the Legion of Freedom for Russia is led by Ilya Ponomarev, the only deputy to vote against the annexation of Crimea, and is seen as a movement in defense of Russian freedom, the Russian Volunteer Corps is led by Denis Kapustin, associated with the extreme right and hooliganism.
Even after Moscow announced it had ended the raid, the spokesman for the Legion’s political wing guaranteed that his men were still in control of two villages, information also conveyed by Russian accounts on social networks. Ponomarev, quoted by the New York Times, said the raid was designed to destabilize Putin’s government and force the Russian military to divert resources. “Now it is necessary to reconsider and place more troops along the Ukrainian border.”
Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling believed that if the action was intended to be raiding, “it succeeded in achieving all its objectives”. In other words, surprise the border guard and the defense ministry, frighten Russian citizens, send a message to Putin and cause the movement of troops.
Source: DN
