Russian President Vladimir Putin (archive from Reuters)
Russia and Ukraine
Commenting on the attack carried out earlier today by Ukrainian infiltrators on the Klimovsk region in the Russian border province of Bryansk with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a terrorist attack. He said in a speech on Thursday that “terrorists” entered the border area and opened fire on civilians.
He also added, “We saw that it was a civilian car, and we saw civilians and children sitting there,” referring to the infiltrators targeting civilians and detaining some of them, according to local media.
In addition, Putin threatened what he described as “Ukrainian neo-Nazis and their masters with a firm response.”
The Russian president had canceled his scheduled visit to the Stavropol Territory to follow up on the situation in Bryansk.
Killed and distributed
This came after the governor of Bryansk, Alexander Bogomaz, announced that a “Ukrainian sabotage group”, as he described it, had infiltrated the Klimovsk region in Bryansk, on the border, to carry out “criminal and terrorist operations,” adding that the attack resulted in deaths and injuries, and led to the taking of hostages.
Later, the Russian Federal Security Service announced in a statement that its forces and the army tried to eliminate what it described as an “armed group of Ukrainian nationalists” that had crossed the border.
From the Russian city of Bryansk (Sputnik)
In turn, the Kremlin condemned this attack, and its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that measures had been taken to eliminate terrorists.
While the Russian Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss these developments, Putin participated in it.
deliberate provocation
On the other hand, the Ukrainian presidency denounced the “Russian novel”, considering it merely a “deliberate provocation” practiced by Moscow in order to justify its attacks. “The story about the Ukrainian sabotage group in Bryansk is a classic deliberate provocation,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Russia wants to intimidate its own population to justify” its invasion of Ukraine.
He hinted that this attack might be the work of Russian “supporters”, referring to armed activists who adopt street warfare tactics.
He also considered that “the partisan movement in Russia is getting stronger and becoming more aggressive,” saying, “Be afraid of your supporters.”
troubled region
It is noteworthy that the Russian border region has become increasingly turbulent, since the launch of the Russian military operation on Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022, especially in recent months, with the passage of more reports of shelling and sporadic sabotage operations.
