The Kremlin accused Ukrainian saboteurs of a terrorist attack in Russia

The Kremlin on Thursday accused Ukrainian saboteurs of infiltrating western Russia and opening fire on villagers. Ukraine denied the claim and warned that Moscow could use the claims to justify stepping up its own attacks in the ongoing war.

The exact circumstances of the reported attack in the Bryansk region were unclear, as was the strategic purpose of such an attack. The governor of the region reported that two civilians were killed.

If confirmed, it would be another sign that, after the drone attacks earlier this week, Kiev may be stepping up pressure on Moscow, exposing Russian defense weaknesses, embarrassing the Kremlin, and sowing anxiety among Russian civilians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the invasion on Ukrainian “terrorists”, saying they deliberately targeted civilians, including children, in “another terrorist attack, another crime.”

“They infiltrated the border area and opened fire on civilians,” Putin said during a video call. “They saw a civilian car with civilians in it, there were children in it, and they opened fire on them.”

The alleged invasion comes just days after Putin ordered the Federal Security Service to tighten controls on Russia’s border with Ukraine.

While Russian war hawks have expressed dismay at what they see as Putin’s unwillingness to declare martial law and begin a massive mobilization of soldiers, the Russian leader’s comments Thursday did not appear to signal any such move.

Putin blamed the attack on “neo-Nazis” and said it confirmed that Russia did the right thing by invading Ukraine. “I repeat once again: they will not succeed, and we will push them out,” he said.

In ordering the invasion, the Russian leader promised to “denazify” Ukraine, falsely claiming that radical neo-Nazi groups dominate the country, led by a Jewish president. Kyiv and its Western allies dismissed his statement as a bogus cover for an unprovoked act of aggression.

Andriy Chernyak, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, saw Russian statements as evidence that Moscow was threatened with an uprising among its own disaffected people.

“The Russians did it; Ukraine has nothing to do with this,” he told The Associated Press.

The group, calling itself the Russian Volunteer Corps, said it crossed the border into Russia in a video that also called on Russians to revolt. The group’s statement did not explain what actions it had taken or what specific goals it wanted to achieve.

The Russian Volunteer Corps called itself a “volunteer formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” Little is known about this group, and it was not immediately clear whether it had any ties to the Ukrainian military.

The group was founded in August and is made up primarily of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have ties to Ukrainian far-right groups, according to Michael Colborn, a researcher for investigative website Bellingcat.

Colborne tweeted that Ukrainian military intelligence “very likely” approved the invasion.

Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak called the Russian statements “a classic deliberate provocation.”

Russia “wants to scare its people to justify attacking another country (and) growing poverty after a year of war,” he tweeted, suggesting that Russian partisans were behind what happened in Bryansk.

The governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz said that in the village of Lyubechan, the attackers killed two civilians and wounded a child.

Russia’s Federal Security Service said it acted jointly with the military to “eliminate armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border.” The agency later claimed that the attackers were pushed back into Ukraine, “where they were hit by a massive artillery strike.” The claim could not be verified.

Putin canceled a planned trip to the south of Russia because of the terrorist attack. On Friday, he will chair the weekly meeting of Russia’s Security Council.

Asked by journalists if this activity could lead to a change in the status of the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I can’t say yet.”

The raid in the Bryansk region followed a series of drone attacks. On Tuesday, drones the Kremlin says were launched by Ukraine flew deep inside Russian territory, including one that flew within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry also said on Wednesday that the military had repelled a drone attack on Crimea.

In the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye, three people were killed and six others injured early Thursday morning when a Russian missile hit a five-story apartment building, destroying several floors.

Another to the first anniversary of the Ukrainian-Russian war

A Russian drone attack injured people queuing for humanitarian aid in a village in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, injuring nine people, including a 16-year-old, the regional administration said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia “wants to turn every day for our people into a day of terror,” adding that “evil will not reign on our land.”

Russian artillery, drones and rockets have been shelling Ukrainian-held areas in the south and east of the country for months. Moscow denies targeting civilian targets, but its indiscriminate shelling has caused great destruction in urban centers.

The war was largely stalemate during the winter months, although a bitter battle continued for control of Bakhmut, a key stronghold to the east, from where Ukrainian officials say they can strategically withdraw.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that Russian troops “continue to advance and storm the city,” but the Kyivians repelled some of the attacks. Capturing the city would not only give Russian fighters a rare advantage on the battlefield after months of setbacks, but could also sever Ukrainian supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to advance to other Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

In other developments, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke briefly Thursday at a meeting of senior diplomats from the G20 countries, the first high-level meeting between Russia and the US in months.

A senior US official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation, said Blinken “dissuaded” Lavrov from US support for Ukraine being wavering.

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