Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a group of Ukrainian saboteurs entered Russian territory and opened fire on civilians, thus committing an act of terrorism, BBC writes.
The governor of the Bryansk region has informed that «saboteurs from Ukraine» have opened fire on a civilian’s car in the village of Lyubechane. There has been no independent confirmation of the alleged incident.
Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commented on Twitter that it was a provocation from Russia.
Moscow has also previously reported strikes by Ukrainian missiles and drones along the border, including in Bryansk.
The Russian Federal Security Service has informed that on Thursday, the 2nd of March, its employees, and the regular army clashed with Ukrainian nationalists who allegedly entered Russia and took hostages.
The nationalists are said to have come under artillery fire and retreated back to Ukraine. The security service insists that the Ukrainians left large stocks of explosives in the village.
When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Putin called the Kyiv government neo-Nazis and nationalists and said Russia must fight back. Contrary to Moscow’s fantasies, Zelensky is a democratically elected president, besides, he is of Jewish origin and there are no far-right radicals in his government.
A video showing members of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), which represents Putin’s opponents, has appeared online. One of the gunmen says he managed to cross the Russian border.
Bellingcat expert Michael Colborne has identified corps leader Denis Kapustin as one of the men in the video. Colburn told the BBC:
«This RVC seems to do the very little actual fighting or at least serious fighting, and Kapustin may have physical combat sports training but he is not from any sort of military background.»
Putin this week also accused Ukraine and the West of increased spying on Russian territory. Russian officials reported that an unmanned aerial vehicle had crashed in Kolomna, just 100 kilometers from Moscow, and two other unmanned aerial vehicles were downed in southern Russia.
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