The Russian Ministry of Defense assured this Thursday that it has repelled with its aviation and artillery three attacks in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. Dozens of soldiers and military vehicles were involved in the Ukrainian offensive.
“Following heavy shelling of civilian facilities in the Belgorod region, Ukrainian terrorist groups with up to two tank-reinforced motorized infantry companies attempted to invade Russian territory,” the ministry said through its spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov. “The Russian Armed Forces, together with units of the Border Guard Service and the Federal Security Service (FSB) aborted a new attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack against the civilian population,” he added.
According to the military report, the attack took place around three in the morning in Moscow (one hour less in Batrcelona), “after an intensive bombardment of civilian targets in the Belgorod region.”
“Ukrainian terrorist formations, consisting of two motorized companies reinforced with tanks, tried to penetrate Russian territory near the town of Novaya Talvozhanka and the Shebékino checkpoint,” Defense said.
According to the Russian military, during the confrontation “more than 30 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored vehicles, a Grad shuttle and a car were annihilated.”
Previously, the Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, the two armed groups that staged an incursion from Ukraine at the end of May also in the Belgorod oblast, had announced a new infiltration into Russia, in two videos supposedly recorded from territory of that country.
“The second phase (of the operation) promised by the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (CVR) has begun!”, reads one of the messages published on the Telegram account of this formation made up of Russian volunteers.
Both groups have been fighting for months alongside the Ukrainian army against Russian forces and say their objective is the overthrow of Russian President Vladimir Putin by force of arms.
According to the CVR, some of its troops are already back inside Russia and were heading towards the town of Shebékino. The video of the Russian Freedom Legion was allegedly recorded in the town of Graivoron, also located in Belgorod. In it, he states his intention to “liberate all of Russia from Belgorod to Vladivostok.”
Pending the much-announced Ukrainian counteroffensive after more than 15 months of armed conflict, Russia has suffered repeated attacks in recent days. In addition to last week’s raid carried out by these two anti-Putin groups, Moscow suffered on Tuesday, May 30, the biggest drone attack of this crisis.
Hours before the statement from the Ministry of Defense, the governor of Belgorod, Viacheslav Gladkov, came up with some information indicating that Ukrainian troops had reached Russian territory. It is a “fake”, he assured. “There has not been and there is no enemy in the region,” said Gladkov, who explained that what the area was suffering was a “continuous attack” against a city near the border.
“It has not been a good morning for the city of Shebekino,” Gladkov said. In addition to nine injured, more than a hundred people had to be evacuated. Viacheslav Gladkov noted that residents of Shebekino, a population of 39,000, as well as nearby towns, are being evacuated from the area.
The conditions to get them out of that region “are complicated due to the dense fire of the enemy,” he added in his message, published on his Telegram channel and addressed to the residents of the city. He explained that evacuations are carried out during the shelling, “but in case of urgent need, we will take protected equipment to your houses.”
According to Gladkov, Ukrainian forces have used Soviet-era artillery to attack Shebekino, setting fire to a residence. Damage was also reported to a local administration building.
A hundred residents have had to leave the city and have been welcomed in Belgorod, the regional capital, explained the mayor of the latter, Valentin DemÃdov.
“At the moment the registration process is taking place: 134 people have already registered, 34 of them minors,” who will receive shelter in the Belgorod Arena stadium, with a capacity for more than a hundred people, he wrote on Telegram.
Earlier, Gladkov explained that residents of Shebekino and other districts in the region will be evacuated to other regions of Russia far from the fighting. “Today our children are leaving, about 200 people from families, with mothers and grandmothers with small children, to (the province of) Penza,” he specified. Next Saturday, another 600 people from Belgorod will be welcomed in Kaluga and Yaroslavl, two provinces close to Moscow.
