The government of Russia’s Belgorod region declared an “anti-terrorist operation regime” in the area after an armed attack was reported. The Ukrainians deny participation and attribute the action to Russian guerrillas who oppose the Kremlin
(DW) Russia said on Monday (5/22) that it is fighting a group of saboteurs linked to Ukraine. The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, Viacheslav Gladkov, said that at least eight people were injured in three locations in the region, which borders Ukrainian territory.
According to the governor, fighting also damaged three houses and a local administrative building. The situation remains “extremely tense” in the region, Gladkov stated.
Shortly afterwards, the local government placed the entire Belgorod region under the “legal regime of an anti-terrorist operation zone.” The regime allows for the withdrawal of civilians from the areas concerned, increased control of telecommunications, facilitation of interventions by anti-terrorist forces or identity checks and reinforcement of patrols.
This anti-terrorist regime has been in place for years in the Russian Caucasus, particularly in Chechnya, but this is the first time a Russian region has been placed under this regime since the Russian offensive in Ukraine launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters that President Putin has been informed of the incursion. He also reported that this operation is an attempt by Ukraine to “divert attention” after the alleged loss of control of Bakhmut.
“Legion of Freedom for Russia”
Ukraine has denied that it organized the ongoing armed incursion into the Belgorod region. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kiev had “nothing to do” with the attack and said that anti-Kremlin Russian guerrilla groups were responsible. “Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation,” he said.
The operation was officially claimed on Telegram by a group presenting itself as belonging to a certain “Legion of Freedom for Russia,” or Russians fighting on the Ukrainian side, which had already claimed to be behind previous incursions in the same region.
“The time has come to put an end to the Kremlin dictatorship,” a man who, in December, introduced himself to Agence France-Presse as “Caesar,” a spokesman for the group, said in a video posted on the channel. According to the channel, the group “completely liberated” a village in the Belgorod region and attacked a second location.
In recent weeks, while a major Ukrainian counteroffensive is prepared, Russian territory has become the target of an increasing number of sabotage actions and attacks, which Moscow attributes to Kiev. Ukraine denies participation. In April 2023, a Russian fighter jet accidentally dropped a bomb on Belgorod, damaging several buildings in the regional capital of the same name.
The new incursion comes after Russia claimed over the weekend to have taken Bakhmut, a town in eastern Ukraine that was the scene of the fiercest and bloodiest battle since the conflict began in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski denied that his forces had lost the region and said that his army still controls a small strip and continues to put pressure on Russian troops to the north and south of the city.
The Russian mercenary group Wagner affirmed that its forces plan to withdraw from Bakhmut between May 25 and June 1, ceding their positions to the regular army.
jps (AFP, Lusa, ots)