An incursion into Russia by Ukrainian fighters reported by authorities in a region near the Ukrainian border was a “terrorist attack,” the Kremlin said on Thursday. “We are talking about a terrorist attack”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the press.
For her part, the Ukrainian presidency denounced as a “deliberate provocation“Russia’s markings.
“The story about the Ukrainian sabotage group in Russia is a classic deliberate provocation. Russia wants to scare its population to justify” its invasion of Ukraine, Mikhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the presidency, tweeted.
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(The Russian Army) protects Russia and our people against neo-Nazis and terrorists
Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled a planned trip to the Russian Caucasus and is “constantly” informed of the situationthe spokesman added.
The president also launched accusations after Lavrov’s statements.
The Russian army “protects Russia and our people against neo-Nazis and terrorists (…). Those who committed a new terrorist attack today infiltrated our border territory and opened fire on civiliansPutin declared in a televised speech.
However, the president does not plan to urgently convene his national security council, which is due to meet on Friday, Peskov said.
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The Russian security services (FSB) and the Briansk local authorities reported that this Thursday operations were underway to “eliminate” a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” infiltrated in this region, located about 400 km southwest of Moscow.
Regional Governor Alexander Bogomaz said that “a reconnaissance and sabotage group infiltrated the town of Lyubechane from Ukraine.” “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation they are taking all necessary measures to eliminate this group“, he added.
According to him, “the saboteurs opened fire on a moving vehicle.”
Ukraine rejects the accusations
The government of Ukraine rejected the accusations. of the Kremlin and Putin. “A false report spread by Russian propagandists claiming that a group of Ukrainian saboteurs and reconnaissance crossed into Russia constitutes a deliberate provocation“Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President’s Office, explained on his Twitter account.
the russian federation
wants to scare
his people to justify
the attack on another country
“The story about the Ukrainian sabotage group in FR (the Russian Federation) is a classic deliberate provocation. The RF wants to scare its people to justify the attack on another country and the growing poverty after the year of war,” Podolyak said.
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The situation “on the border with Russia Is under controlinformation suggesting that there is some Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage group on the territory of the Russian Federation is a informative provocation of the aggressor country“, reiterated Andrii Demchenko, according to the agency Ukrainska Pravda
He recognized that although “the situation is quite difficult” in the area, this is “mainly due to the incessant daily shelling from Russian territory.”
The Ukrainian group would have taken hostages, according to the Russian press agencies Ria Novosti, TASS and Interfax, which cited witnesses and sources from the security and rescue services. The AFP could not verify this information independently.
“I don’t know anything about what could have happened on the territory of the Russian Federation, because a terrorist country is some kind of de facto unstable entity that can deliberately try to blame Ukraine for everything“said Andrii Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
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Some media, such as The Washington Post, pointed out that the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps, a group of anti-Kremlin fighterswould have claimed responsibility for that attack.
According to Mikhailo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, the incident could be related to an action by “militiamen” Russians, who operate with guerrilla methods.
Russia’s border regions with Ukraine have suffered several bombardments since the start of the conflict, but it is rare for authorities to report a sabotage group.
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