- Groups say they are Russians who want to overthrow Putin
- Kremlin accuses ‘Ukrainian nationalists’; Kyiv denies the role
- The invasion of Russia appears to be the largest since the war began
KIEV, May 23 (Portal) – Moscow said on Tuesday it had routed and killed dozens of “Ukrainian nationalists” who had entered Russia from Ukraine after two days of fighting, in what appears to be one of the largest raids of its kind seemed 15 months old war.
There was no immediate independent confirmation that the fighting had ended, but the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said the anti-terrorist measures he introduced after Monday’s attack had been lifted.
And one of two groups claiming to be behind the raid said in a social media post: “One day we will come back to stay.”
The fighting forced Russia to evacuate towns along the border with northeastern Ukraine. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack, which Kiev denied. The two groups that claimed responsibility describe themselves as Russian armed dissidents.
The Russian military said it killed more than 70 Ukrainian nationalists and destroyed four armored vehicles. Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a civilian was killed “by Ukrainian forces”.
There was no independent confirmation of the deaths.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an evening report that there had been no rocket attacks in Ukraine in the past 24 hours.
“But the enemy launched 25 airstrikes and participated in more than 20 attacks on towns and villages,” the report said. “Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded civilians, private homes and administrative infrastructure have been damaged.”
In Belgorod, Russian forces surrounded enemy fighters and defeated them with “airstrikes, artillery fire and active deployments of border units,” the Defense Ministry said.
“The remnants of the nationalists were pushed back into Ukrainian territory, where they continued to be shot until they were completely annihilated,” it said.
The two groups that claimed responsibility for the raid, the Freedom Legion of Russia and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), say they were Russian armed fighters intent on overthrowing President Vladimir Putin.
The Legion says it is recognized by Ukraine and its members fought Russian forces there. The RVC has claimed responsibility for previous attacks inside Russia, including a cross-border raid in the neighboring Bryansk region in March.
“Good morning everyone, except for Putin’s henchmen. We have reached dawn on the Liberated Area and we are marching on,” the Legion said on Telegram.
“Once again, the myth that the citizens of the Russian Federation are safe and the Russian Federation is strong has been shattered,” a later post said.
The RVC said: “One day we will stay. In the meantime, the partisan movement is not bound by the framework of traditional combat operations.”
IT WAS NOT US, SAYS KIEV
Mark Galeotti, head of London-based consultancy Mayak Intelligence, said the militant groups represented a variety of political perspectives, all united in bringing about Putin’s ouster.
“At the same time, we must be clear that these are not independent forces… They are controlled by the Ukrainian military intelligence service. They rely on the Ukrainians for arms and support.”
Kiev publicly denied blame for the raid, although some of its denials were apparently ironically worded to mimic previous Russian denials of involvement in separatist movements in Ukraine.
Kyiv has “nothing to do with it,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. “As you know, tanks are sold in every Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are made up of Russian citizens.”
Moscow, which portrays its February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a response to a security threat from Kiev, said the attackers were Ukrainian saboteurs drawing attention from Russia’s capture of the city of Bakhmut three days ago after the bloodiest disaster wanted land battle in Europe since World War II.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is partially conducting its “special military operation” in Ukraine to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
“This once again confirms that Ukrainian militants continue their activities against our country. This requires a great effort from us and these efforts will continue,” he said.
Asked about reports that the attackers were ethnic Russians, he said: “They are Ukrainian fighters from Ukraine. Many ethnic Russians live in Ukraine. But they are still Ukrainian militants.”
Mash, a Russian news channel on Telegram, said drones overnight hit the roof of the building of Russia’s FSB security service in the city of Belgorod, nearly 80 km (50 miles) from the district where the raid took place. A picture of emergency vehicles outside the building was posted.
In Ukraine, Russian forces are celebrating their first notable victory in ten months with the capture of Bakhmut, where thousands of soldiers have died in months of fighting that both sides describe as a meat grinder. Kiev says its forces have made their own gains on the outskirts of Bakhmut to the north and south.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that training Ukrainian pilots to fly US-built F-16 fighter jets, as advocated by US President Joe Biden, does not make NATO a party to the conflict.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the more destructive the weapons Ukraine receives from the West, the higher the risk of a “nuclear apocalypse,” Russia’s state news agencies TASS and RIA reported.
Reporting by Portal bureaus; Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; writing by Robert Birsel; Edited by Michael Perry
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