An intrusion by a Ukrainian saboteur group into Russia’s Belgorod Region on Monday has left at least eight civilians wounded, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said.
The official visited hospitals to check up on the inured, according to a video address posted to his Telegram channel. No civilians were killed during the incursion, he noted.
Earlier in the day, the governor placed “anti-terrorism operation” regulations on the area over the incident, providing additional power to law enforcement and restricting certain civil liberties. The police can now check documents and vehicles based solely on suspicion, ban traffic in designated areas, restrict telecom services, allow servicemen partaking in the operation to enter private properties freely, and so on. Gladkov did not provide any estimates on how long the special regime would be in effect.
The incident was acknowledged by Moscow, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating earlier in the day that the Russian military, the National Guard, border patrol agents and Federal Security Service (FSB) “are taking all the necessary measures to destroy the enemy.”
Peskov also claimed that the attack had largely political goals as it was due to the aftermath of the fall of the Donbass stronghold of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, which was recently fully liberated by Russia’s forces. The claim of the city’s capture has been disputed by Kiev.
The incursion has also been confirmed by Ukraine, with a spokesman for Ukraine’s Directorate of Intelligence, Andrey Yusov, claiming it was staged exclusively by Russian collaborationist units fighting for Kiev, namely the so-called legion ‘Freedom of Russia’ and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK).
The raid appears to resemble a similar incursion into Russia’s Bryansk Region in early March. The attack left two Russian civilians dead, and the RDK, which is know for its support for neo-Nazi ideology, claimed responsibility for it. At the time, Kiev tried to distance itself from the incident, insisting it was not behind the raid. However, RDK members themselves alleged that Ukrainian authorities had directly “signed off” on the raid.