Heavy fighting broke out in Russia near the border with Ukraine on Thursday. The situation is serious for Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin – he convened the National Security Council for this Friday.
According to information from Moscow, fighting has broken out in the Bryansk region of southwestern Russia near the border with Ukraine. In the Klimovsk district, Russian troops, with the support of the defense ministry, carried out an operation to “eradicate armed Ukrainian nationalists” who violated the border, Russia’s domestic intelligence service FSB said Thursday, according to the Interfax news agency. “We are talking about an attack by terrorists. Measures are now being taken to destroy them,” Peskov said.
Ukrainian observers warn of disinformation
According to Russian sources, a motorist was killed and a 10-year-old child was injured when Ukrainian sabotage teams fired in the Bryansk region. “They entered the border area, where they opened fire on civilians. You saw that it was a civilian vehicle, that it had civilians and children in it,” Putin said.
This information could not be independently verified. Ukrainian observers warned of Russian disinformation. An adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, spoke of a “classic provocation”. Russia wants to intimidate its own people to justify the war of aggression in the face of growing poverty. “Meanwhile, the partisan movement in Russia is getting stronger and more aggressive. Fear your partisans…” Podoljak wrote on Twitter.
Are Russian right-wing extremists behind it?
Videos are circulating on social media of militants posing with a Russian Volunteer Corps (RDC) flag and claiming responsibility for the Bryansk attacks. The RDC is a combat unit made up of Russian right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis, reportedly numbering 50-70. About 40 of them are said to have been involved in the attacks in the Bryansk area. However, the background to the action remained unclear. War observers consider a “false flag” action possible to provide Putin with a pretext for further mobilization in the country.
Meanwhile, the media had also spread reports of alleged hostage-taking and the shooting of a school bus, which were subsequently retracted by official bodies in Russia.
Russia complains about shelling on its own territory
Putin blamed the Kiev leadership for the shelling, again portraying them as alleged “neo-Nazis”. The 70-year-old claimed they used violence to rob Russia of its historical identity and language. “But I repeat: they’re not going to succeed and we’re going to crush them.”
Since shortly after the start of the war, Russia has repeatedly complained about shelling on its own territory. However, the number of casualties and damage is disproportionate to the consequences of the war in the attacked Ukraine.
Source: Krone
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