A Ukrainian sabotage group with four soldiers was killed on Russian territory. They must have walked across a minefield.
The deaths are confirmed by both Russian and Ukrainian sources.
– Four saboteurs killed while trying to penetrate the Bryansk region, says a message from the Russian security service FSB.
They point out that the soldiers had foreign weapons, especially German Sauer submachine guns. It is unclear what the goal of entering Russia was.
Just before Christmas, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s security services to better control borders and step up surveillance.
“Sabotage and Terror”
The four saboteurs were said to have had equipment to commit “acts of sabotage and terrorism”, including four bombs with a total capacity of about 40 kilograms of TNT.
– Judging by the pictures, they entered a minefield, writes an acquaintance of the soldiers, Jevgen Karas Telegram.
– In Bryansk county, Russia, a group of Ukrainian soldiers died, writes the Ukrainian newspaper Ukraine Pravda.
The deaths have not been officially confirmed in Ukraine.
The FSB has published the names of the four, all with code names. The names themselves are given by Ukrainian sources:
- Yuri Gorovets (34). According to the FSB, he was the head of the group. Codename: “Svajatosha”.
- Maximal Mikhailov (32). Codename: “Don’t drink beer.”
- Taras Karpyuk (38). Codename: «Tarasy».
- Bogdan Lyagov (19). Codename: “Apollon”.
Karas writes on Telegram that Gorovets has carried out successful sabotage actions against Russians in the past:
– A successful saboteur. It wasn’t his first trip. The Russians have paid a high price, writes Karas of Gorovets.
– And they never caught the ghosts that operated in the Belgorod and Bryansk nights, he continues – and mentions two Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
Putin’s prestige project
According to various sources, the three oldest saboteurs have been fighting against Russia since 2014.
The younger, Lyagov, promised to “bury Moscow”, according to Russian media.
There have been numerous fires and explosions on Russian soil, possibly acts of sabotage. Among other things, there were fires in oil depots and weapons depots. The most famous is the attack on Putin’s prestige project – the bridge from Crimea to Russia. According to Moscow, Ukrainian intelligence was behind this spectacular attack. Official Ukraine has admitted in small part that it is behind such actions.
Putin: – New threats
It was on the “day of the security services” just before Christmas that Putin ordered to step up surveillance of both Russian society and the country’s borders. The speech was reproduced on the Kremlin’s website.
He said “the emergence of new threats” has increased the need for better intelligence.
– The work needs to be intensified through the border services and the FSB, said Putin, who himself is a former FSB agent, ex KGB.
– All attempts to violate the border must be prevented quickly and effectively using the forces and means at our disposal, including mobile action units and special forces, said President Putin.
– It is necessary to stop foreign special services, quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs, was Putin’s message.
The FSB, led by Putin’s close ally Aleksandr Bortnikov, will also step up oversight of mass rallies, strategic facilities, electricity and other infrastructure.
Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 this year. The president calls it a “special military operation.” He got a lot of attention when, before Christmas, he used the word “war” about what’s going on.
