Anti-Putin ‘sabotage forces’ enter and attack Russian territory in Belgorod region

As reported by Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, a ‘sabotage force’ crossed the border onto Russian territory in the Grayvoron urban district this Monday, May 22.

Posting on his Telegram channel, the official wrote: “The armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with the border service, the Russian Guard and the FSB, are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy. I will share the details later”.

“In order to ensure the safety of citizens in the Belgorod region, the legal regime of the counter-terrorist operation has been introduced today, which establishes special measures and temporary restrictions”, Gladkov also announced.

According to the governor, Grayvoron had been under Ukrainian shelling since 9 am Moscow time. It is the westernmost city of the Belgorod region, with its centre located just 7 km from the border with Ukraine.

He confirmed that two people – a man and a woman – had been hospitalised in the village of Glotovo, in the Graivoronsky district as a result of the shelling, as reported by gazeta.ru.

The man was in a moderate condition he added but the woman had been admitted to an intensive care unit and remained critical.

Anton Geraschenko, an advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, tweeted a video, posting: “Another organisation, calling themselves ‘Russian Volunteer Corps’, published videos showing the organisation’s members by different village signs in Bryansk and Belgorod regions of Russia. ‘RVC is back to the motherland. We’re home. The time to fight for Russia’s freedom has come’”.

Another organization, calling themselves “Russian Volunteer Corps”, published videos showing the organization’s members by different village signs in Bryansk and Belgorod regions of Russia.

“RVC is back to the motherland. We’re home. The time to fight for Russia’s freedom has… pic.twitter.com/814Kh0uHBz

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 22, 2023

Unconfirmed reports on social media suggested that the Free Russia Legion is behind today’s incursion. This is a group said to be made up of former Russian military personnel who decided to change sides and fight for Ukraine.

A post on the Shot Telegram channel, citing a source, claimed that around 80 insurgents entered Russian territory near the village of Kozinka equipped with two tanks and two armoured personnel carriers (APCs).

Earlier reports today on the Mash Telegram channel said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were conducting a massive shelling of the villages of Novostroevka-Pervaya, Kozinka, Bezymeno, Dobroye, Glotovo, and Golovchino.

They reported that one civilian was killed but Gladkov stressed that no one was killed or injured. He explained that power lines in the Volokonovsky district were damaged during the shelling, leaving the village of Shakhovka without electricity.

Statements circulating online claiming that residents of the Shebekinsky urban district had been ordered to evacuate were false insisted the governor. He insisted this fake news was being spread by the administration of the Shebekinsky urban district.

“There is a massive dissemination of information with a proposal to evacuate the residents of the Shebekinsky urban district from the administration … This is a lie. This is not the case. There will be deterioration, there will be an improvement, we will provide all the necessary information”, Gladkov explained.

According to RIA Novosti, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Press Secretary, commented: “We perfectly understand the purpose of such sabotage – to divert attention from the Bakhmut situation, and to minimize the political effect of the loss of the city by the Ukrainian side”.