| 2023 Bryansk Oblast raid | |
|---|---|
| Part of the2022–23 Western Russia attacks and2022 Belarusian and Russian partisan movement | |
| Location | Lyubechane andSushany,Bryansk Oblast |
| Date | 2 March 2023 Timing of Russian reports: 11:30–14:30 (MSK,UTC+3) |
Attack type | Asymmetric engagement Subversion |
| Deaths | 2 (per Russia)[a] |
| Injured | 2 (per Russia)[a] |
| Perpetrators |  Russian Volunteer Corps Ukraine (per Russia) |
On 2 March 2023, theRussian authorities said that an armedUkrainian group crossedthe border and attacked the villages ofLyubechane andSushany inBryansk Oblast. Russia said the attackers fired on a car, killing twocivilians, before theFederal Security Service forced them back into Ukraine. The raid[2][3] was claimed by theRussian Volunteer Corps; aparamilitary group of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine, which opposes theRussian regime of Vladimir Putin.[b] Russia called the incident a terrorist attack, and said its9 March missile strikes on Ukraine were retaliation. Ukraine's government denied involvement; it said the incident could have been afalse-flag attack by Russia to justify itsongoing war against Ukraine, or else an attack byanti-government partisans from within Russia.
In early February 2023, Bryansk Oblast authorities claimed that they had been strengthening the border with Ukraine. TheGovernor of Bryansk OblastAlexander Bogomaz posted photos from a meeting with "commanders of the group protecting the border" on hisTelegram channel, and stated that "the work done on the construction of protective structures and strongpoints was highly appreciated by the command of theRussian Armed Forces."[5]
On 2 March 2023, at around 11:30MSK, Bogomaz reported that a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group made an incursion into Russian territory, entering the village of Lyubechane,Klimovsky District. According to him, the saboteurs fired at a moving car, killing one adult and injuring a child.[6] It was reported that the passenger car was transporting children to a class.[7] Subsequent to this initial report,TASS reported, citing a law enforcement source, that the group had penetrated into two villages, Lubechane and Sushany, and took several residents hostage.[7] According toRFE/RL, a Russian Telegram channel posting local news reported that residents in the area heard explosions and gunfire.[8]
According to TASS, "members of theRosgvardia entered into a clash with the militants".[7] At 14:30, TASS, citing eyewitnesses, wrote that the "Ukrainian saboteurs" had ceased showing signs of activity and may have left Russian territory. "There is no one from the Ukrainian group on the territory of the Russian Federation, they all left. Now there is a search, possibly, for the remaining fighters of theVSU on our territory", said one of the agency's sources.[7]
The Russian government said that a Ukrainian sabotage group entered the Russian village ofLyubechane and fired on civilians in a car.[9] TheGovernor of Bryansk Oblast,Alexander Bogomaz, said two civilians were killed and an 11-year-old boy was wounded.[9][8]
Russia'sFederal Security Service (FSB) said it acted together with the Russian military to "eliminate armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border".[2] It later said that the attackers had been pushed back into Ukraine "where a massive artillery strike was inflicted on them".[2] According to FSB, a large number of explosive devices had been found and demining was underway. The FSB did not mention the earlier report about a hostage-taking.[9]
Responsibility for the raid was claimed by theRussian Volunteer Corps (RDK;Russian:Русский добровольческий корпус,romanized: Russkiy dobrovol'cheskiy korpus), an armed group of far-right[10][4] anti-government Russian nationalists[11] fighting for Ukraine.[c][12][10][b]
Two videos posted online on 2 March show armed men in combat gear calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps. They say they crossed the border to fight "the bloodyPutinite and Kremlin regime". Describing themselves as Russian "liberators", they called upon citizens to revolt against the government, and denied firing on civilians.[9] One of the videos seems to have been filmed outside Lyubechane medical clinic.[13] According to an analysis by the American think tankInstitute for the Study of War, social media users geolocated one of the two videos toSushany.[14]
RDK's leaderDenis Kapustin said that the aim was to expose how weakly guarded Russia's border areas are and toinspire armed opposition against "Kremlin usurpers".[15] According to him, the 45-strong attacking force included anti-government insurgents based in Russia,[15] and acted with Ukraine's backing.[11] On the day of the raid, Russian investigative journalism websiteiStories published an RDK member's account of the event; he said: "There were 45 of us on that mission. We went in, filmed, ambushed twoBMPs. I didn't see any children injured. But there was one injured border guard. No hostages were taken."[16]
ThePresident of Russia,Vladimir Putin, said in a televised address that Ukrainian neo-Nazi "terrorists" crossed the border and targeted civilians. Putin said the attack confirmed that Russia did the right thing by invading Ukraine.[2] "They won't achieve anything. We will crush them," Putin said, claiming the group consisted of people who wanted to strip Russia of its history and language.[9][17] Russia officially treats the event as an act of terrorism, and theInvestigative Committee of the Russian Federation has initiated a terrorism probe.[18]
The Ukrainian government and military denied carrying out a cross-border raid,[2] and suggested Russia could use the allegations to justify further attacks on Ukraine.[2]Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to thePresident of Ukraine, wrote onTwitter: "The story of a Ukrainian sabotage group in the Russian Federation is a classic deliberate provocation". He said Russia "wants to scare its people to justify attacking another country and growing poverty after a year of war."[9] He told the Associated Press: "This was done by the Russians; Ukraine has nothing to do with it".[2] Podolyak suggested the attack could have been carried out by ananti-government group within Russia, saying: "The partisan movement in the Russian Federation is getting stronger and more aggressive".[19]
According to a report byThe New York Times, "Ukraine intelligence officials have tried to portray the incident as evidence of Russian divisions"; Andriy Cherniak, a representative of theUkrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) was cited as saying: "This is a sign that Russia can no longer function normally and this leads to internal destruction".[12] Separately, he noted that the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility, and indicated that Ukraine was not involved.[19]Andriy Yusov, another GUR representative, suggested that the composition of the armed group was a sign of an internal struggle within Russia,[9] and characterized the event as a "confrontation within the Russian Federation itself between the citizens of the Russian Federation".[20]
On 9 March Russia attacked Ukraine with an estimated 81 missiles.[21] The Ukrainian military said 34 missiles were shot down, a lower than usual rate due to Russia shifting to new technologies.[22] Russia claimed it carried out a "massive retaliatory strike" as payback. Russia's attack included an unprecedented sixKinzhal hypersonic missiles. Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv regions were hit, leaving 40% of civilians in Kyiv without heat, and electricity outages in Odesa. At least five people were killed by the strikes in Zolochiv, Lviv region and one civilian was killed in Dnipro region. The attack again damaged electricity supplies toZaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, forcing it onto emergency diesel generators.Rafael Grossi, head of theIAEA said "Each time we are rolling a dice. And if we allow this to continue time after time then one day our luck will run out".[23]
On 9 March, a video was released of some hooded and armed fighters claiming to be against "the regime of Putin" and inciting people to join them in front of the entrance sign to the village ofPlekhovo, inKursk Oblast, Russia.[24]
In late May, RVC, and other rebel groups allied with Ukraine began making more sizableincursions into Belgorod Oblast, Russia.[25][26][27]
The Anti-Defamation League describes [Denis Nikitin] as a "neo-Nazi" who lived in Germany for many years.
transl. "The saboteurs fired at a moving vehicle. As a result of the shooting, one resident was killed and a ten-year-old child was wounded," the governor wrote."
transl. Some Telegram channels, in particular SHOT, first reported that a group of saboteurs attacked a "school bus," but it soon became clear that the vehicle in question was a car in which the children were taken to class.
The Russian Volunteer Corps is the first attempt by Russian neo-Nazis to unite in a political-military alliance abroad since the failed Russian Center.
The attacks in Bryansk, meanwhile, were quickly claimed by fighters who said they were members of a far-right Russian anti-Putin nationalist group
[...]
Kapustin told the Financial Times that a recent cross-border raid he'd conducted from Ukraine into Russia had the endorsement of Kyiv.
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