A sabotage group of the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian
Volunteer Corps entered the Belgorod Region from Ukraine.
On the morning of May 22, the Freedom of Russia legion, a volunteer unit fighting on the side of Ukraine, announced its entry into the Belgorod region. Its participants stated that together with the “Russian Volunteer Corps” they “liberated the settlement of Kozinka in the Belgorod Region”, and “forward detachments entered Graivoron.” “Let’s move on. Russia will be free!” – the message says.
The Russian authorities for several hours did not confirm the sabotage of the “Freedom of Russia” legion in the Belgorod region. But telegram channels published a video of “the alleged entry of Ukrainian tanks into the territory of the Grayvoron checkpoint in the Belgorod region.” Local residents said they heard explosions and gunfire. Baza reported that the battle with the “sabotage group” is being fought near the settlements of Glotovo, Kozinka and Gora-Podol in the Belgorod Region.
Legion Free Russia
Another pro-Russian telegram channel writes that the group members marched towards Kozinka in armored vehicles and off-road vehicles, supported by several tanks, and from there tried to advance towards Glotovo. Hiking sabotage groups, according to him, reached the village of Gora-Podil. Local residents reported that helicopters and armored vehicles were sent to help the Russian border guards.
Despite reports from the media and telegram channels, Governor Gladkov did not confirm information about saboteurs and battles with them for several hours: the official spoke about a “massive information attack on the Belgorod Region” and intruders who provoked panic among the population. Then the official acknowledged the “massive shelling of the Graivoron region”, and a few hours later confirmed the fact of fighting with saboteurs. “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,” Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
In the evening, a counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in the Belgorod Region. By that time, it was not possible to capture the saboteurs.
Gladkov also claims that after the shelling of the village of Glotovo, Graivoron District, a man and a woman with mine-explosive wounds were taken to the district hospital. According to him, the woman is in intensive care in a serious condition, the man is in a state of moderate severity. Prior to this, the governor stated that on May 22 there were neither wounded nor killed in the Belgorod region.
The representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, told the Ukrainian channel “Suspilna” that the Legion “Freedom of Russia” and the “Russian Volunteer Corps” are indeed conducting an operation in the Belgorod region in order to push back “the enemy in order to create a certain security zone to protect Ukrainian civilians population”. He stressed that “exclusively citizens of Russia” entered the Belgorod region.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the Ministry of Defense, the FSB and the border service reported to Putin about “an attempt by Ukrainian saboteurs to break into the Belgorod region.” According to him, “the purpose of the Ukrainian sabotage is to divert attention from the situation in the Bakhmut direction.” “Russian forces are working to squeeze out the Ukrainian DRG from the territory of the Russian Federation, there are enough forces and means,” he said.
This is at least the second sabotage operation in Russia. In early March, the “Russian Volunteer Corps” took responsibility for the raid in the Bryansk region, during which its fighters occupied the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany for a short time.
