The question and answer between Moscow and Kiev to establish the paternity of the clashes in the Russian region of Belgorod is alive. Yesterday, the first messages spoke of Ukrainian forces having penetrated Russian territory and grappling with the forces of Moscow.
After a few hours the Russian partisans claimed responsibility for the attack Freedom of Russia and Russian Volunteer Corps. In Telegram messages they announced that they had launched raids on the Russian-Ukrainian border and put up their flags in the localities of Bezlyudovka, Churovichi and Lyubimovka, in the Russian regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk. In a heartfelt appeal they then addressed the Russians directly: “Citizens of Russia, we are Russians like you. The only difference is that we no longer want to justify the actions of the criminals in power and we want the Kremlin dictatorship to end. The first flags of a free Russia at dawn on the liberated cities”.
The Kremlin's response was immediate, telling another story: "An operation, that of Belgorod to divert attention since the defeat suffered by Ukraine at Bakhmut“. So the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov who then added that "The Defense Ministry, the FSB and the Border Guard reported to the Russian president about an attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage group to break into the Belgorod region. Actions are underway to push it back from Russian territory and destroy it,” Peskov said, assuring that “there are enough forces and resources in place.”
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The Kiev narrative. “Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation, but this has nothing to do with it. As you know, tanks are sold in any Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are Russian citizens“. He writes it on Twitter Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, referring to allegations from Moscow that a group of Ukrainian saboteurs have raided Russian territory.
Prigozhin's accusation. "But where were the military when the sabotage group penetrated? This is a big question that should be asked of the leadership of a military department.". With these words the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, commented on the raid on the Belgorod region.
The count of the wounded. Over the course of the day, the war report records a small number of civilian injuries due to shells that hit three private residential buildings, following which they caught fire. The administration building was also hit. In the village of Zamostye, a shell hit a kindergarten, setting it on fire.
The governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov reports, at the end of the day, that six people were injured: two in the shelling of the village of Glotovo, three more in the Graivoron district and a woman in the village of Zamostye.
Moscow measures
Russia has decided to establish a "legal regime of counter-terrorism operation zone" in the Belgorod region after an alleged armed raid by Ukrainian saboteurs. This was announced by the governor of the region, Viacheslav Gladkov. Such a regime, decided by the Russian security services (FSB) provides, according to a note from the governor, the possibility of evacuating civilians from the areas involved, greater control of telecommunications, facilitated interventions by the anti-terrorist forces or finally greater and more frequent checks of personal identities and vehicles in circulation. On today's operation in Belgorod, there is an exchange of accusations between Kiev, which claims it was carried out entirely by the Russians, and Moscow.
Meanwhile most of the villagers of the Belgorod region have left the territory. While Russian Telegram channels like Base e Shot report the killing of 39 saboteurs and the capture of five more in the Belgorod region.