Russian Volunteer Corps takes responsibility for attacks on Bryansk and Kursk regions, calls on Russians to rise against Putin
This morning, the authorities of the Russian Bryansk and Kursk regions , which are bordering Ukraine, reported shelling and fire fights in several settlements along the border.
The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said that a "Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group" allegedly crossed into the region.
He also reported a drone attack on the Klimovsky district, as a result of which a residential building in the village of Sushani caught fire.
The shelling of the village of Tetkino in the Kursk region was reported by the governor of the region Roman Starovoit. According to him, two residents were injured. One of them died before the ambulance arrived, the second was hospitalized with moderate injuries.
At the same time, Russian media outlets reported that the sabotage and reconnaissance groups entered two villages in the Bryansk region. The Ukrainian saboteurs allegedly a clashed with the Russian National Guard. There were reportedly dead and wounded among the residents, and some residents were taken hostage.
The Russian Volunteer Corps later took responsibility for the attacks.
"Right now, on all Internet platforms you can see news about the "Ukrainian sabotage groups", who killed children, took hostages, but, at the same time, quickly left and so on. All this is the lie of the Kremlin's propagandists. The Russian Volunteer Corps came to the Bryansk region to show compatriots that there is hope, that free Russian people with weapons in their hands can fight the regime," Russian Volunteer Corps said in a statement.
The Russian Volunteer Corps also published two videos with its fighters who claim to have entered Russia from Ukraine.
One video was shot in front of a paramedic station in the Bryansk region. One of the men in the footage is Denis "Rex", who earlier appeared at press conferences and interviews as the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, reports the Russian news outlet Agentstvo.
Adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, Mykhailo Podolyak, called the story about the Ukrainian sabotage group entering Russia a "classic provocation."
"It’s a completely conscious provocation. Russia wants to scare its own people in order to somehow justify an attack on another country and growing poverty during a year of war. Meanwhile, the guerrilla movement in Russia is becoming stronger and more aggressive. Be afraid of your guerrillas," Podolyak wrote in a Tweeter post.
"The Russian Federation is currently the entity which is facing numerous interethnic, interreligious, socio-political and other conflicts. Today there is a public statement by the Russian Volunteer Corps. These are people who are fighting with weapons in their hands against the Putin regime and its supporters. Perhaps Russians are beginning to wake up, realize something and take some concrete measures, " said the representative of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Yusov, in a comment to Hromadske.
The Russian Volunteer Corps is a unit of Russian volunteers who have been fighting on Ukrainian side since 2014. It was formed last August. Many veterans of Azov and other units have joined its ranks. The Volunteer Corps is part of the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This is one of the two Russian volunteer units. The second unit is the Freedom of Russia Legion.