Fighting in Russia? What is known about the incident A doctor dies in Switzerland and the world speculates – because of Putin’s children

Suddenly shots would have been fired on Russian territory. Moscow speaks of an “act of terrorism”, of Ukrainian saboteurs and “Nazis”. But much of what happened in Bryansk in southern Russia is still completely unclear. The incident is shrouded in fog of war and Russian propaganda tries to control the reading.

What actually happened in Bryansk? Is the war now spreading to Russian territory? And is the Kremlin using the incident to escalate further? The overview.

What exactly happened?

A group of Russian right-wing extremists fighting for Ukraine is said to have attacked several villages in Bryansk Oblast. There is hardly any reliable information, most of it comes from state-related media or videos that Russian nationalists spread on Telegram.

There are several confession videos of the alleged attack, which the soldiers themselves distributed on Telegram. It shows heavily armed men holding up the flag of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK). A soldier stands in front of the medical post in Lyubechane village near Bryansk and taps the metal sign behind him as proof. The men wear yellow stripes on their clothes, which the Ukrainian army has introduced to some extent to distinguish it from Russian troops. In the videos, shots are fired in the background, but it is not possible to see who is shooting at whom.

The fighters speak Russian. Their message: We came to liberate the Russian region. They say they don’t want to fight civilians. Whether this is true cannot be independently assessed.

A little later, the Russian internal secret service (FSB) reports that the alleged attackers (“Ukrainian nationalists” according to the FSB) have been pushed back into Ukrainian territory after fierce fighting. There they were fired upon by Russian artillery, so the danger had passed.

Meanwhile, the media had also spread reports on Thursday about an alleged hostage-taking and school bus shooting, which were subsequently retracted by official bodies in Russia.

Who’s behind this?

The attackers are said to be fighters from the “Russian Volunteer Corps”, a paramilitary unit of Russian emigrants living in Ukraine. They are right-wing fighters who say they reject Putin’s war in Ukraine. In videos, the men clearly acknowledge the attacks in Bryansk. However, it is unclear whether they are authentic.

It was striking that at the beginning of the war some well-known right-wing extremists also fought in the unit of the RDK. While some Russian nationalists support Putin’s war of aggression, others are fighting on Kiev’s side. The “Russian Volunteer Corps” (RDK) was formed after the outbreak of the war and consists of former Russian volunteer fighters from the Ukrainian Azov regiment, which also defended Mariupol.

The commander and founder of the RDK, Denis Kapustin, also appears in the videos. Kapustin is a Russian neo-Nazi who grew up in Cologne and speaks fluent German. According to information from “Spiegel”, he was part of the management level of the far-right martial arts scene and was expelled from Germany in 2019. He has lived in Ukraine since 2018 and founded the RDK in 2022.

“I really think he’s against Putin, but not in the way we think,” Canadian journalist Michael Colborne, who covers far-right movements in Ukraine, told Der Spiegel. “People like him may be against Putin, but only because they want to replace him with something worse.” He describes Kasputin as a “brutal racist”.

In addition to Kapustin, CNN also recognizes a soldier who has already fought for Ukraine on the infamous Snake Island. The island became a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance. It remains unclear whether the RDK acted alone or whether the attack on Bryansk was coordinated with Kiev.

How does the Kremlin react?

The Kremlin speaks of Ukrainian “saboteurs and sabotage squads” who attacked Russia. The Russian president even commented personally – an indication of the incident’s role in the Russian propaganda machine. “They entered the border area, where they opened fire on civilians,” Putin claimed, identifying the alleged perpetrators early on: Ukrainians against whom Russia has been fighting and defending itself for eight years. It is the famous propaganda line of the Kremlin chief.

Putin further claimed that the attackers had targeted a civilian car that had also had children in it. The children were injured in the attack. Shortly after it became known, Putin also decided to take an unusual step and convened the National Security Council for next Friday. He even canceled a trip to the Caucasus at short notice. At the meeting, Putin urged further “anti-terrorist measures”. To protect law enforcement agencies, the council needs to talk about it.

Spokesman is deputy chairman and hardliner Dmitry Medvedev. What exactly the Bryansk round would discuss was not known in advance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially only explains: “We will take measures to prevent similar events in the future.”

Russian political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya suspects on Telegram that the Kremlin is “preparing something serious”. The expert stressed that Bryansk could be a Russian false flag operation under the guise of justifying further escalation of the war. Stanovaya said she expects similar, even bigger, incidents later this year.

What does the Ukrainian leadership say?

The reaction from Kiev also followed quickly. The Ukrainian leadership denies any involvement in the attack. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak accused Russia of using it to justify the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine. He also speculates that Russian partisans could be responsible for the attacks. Pro-Ukrainian activists also accuse Russia of a false flag operation.

Who benefits from the incident?

Currently mainly Russian propaganda. Putin’s quick reaction, which speaks of an “act of terrorism”, is no coincidence. From a military point of view, an armed group should not pose a major threat to the Russian army and security services. But the Kremlin sees the incident as an opportunity to close its ranks in the war against Ukraine. The message: we are under attack and must rally behind Putin and the army.

As has often been the case since the beginning of the war, influential Russian military bloggers have taken the lead in Putin’s propaganda. “We need operational groups engaged in the targeted liquidation of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and the political leaders of the Kiev regime,” noted reporter Yevgeny Poddubnyy raged on Telegram. “So that in the rear areas, even in Eastern Europe, no one in the enemy ranks can sleep peacefully. Ukraine is now like al-Qaeda to us.”

Does the alleged attack help Ukraine militarily?

Not really. Ukraine currently has to fend off numerous Russian offensives, especially in the east of the country, and it would have to be April before it can go on the offensive. An incident on Russian territory that causes unrest and may restrict Russian troops is therefore not necessarily bad for Kiev.

The Russian security authorities, which have tightened their control and security measures in the border area with Ukraine since the start of the war, do not look very good either. Russia apparently failed to capture the group despite instructions from Putin to secure Russia’s borders. Therefore, the incident is also unpleasant for the Kremlin boss.

But these minimal benefits of such an action would come with major drawbacks. Why would the Ukrainian leadership march an internationally known neo-Nazi to Russia to cause trouble there? The political and propaganda damage, as can now be seen, would be immense. Because the Russian war story is based on the myth that the Nazis supposedly rule Kiev. For example, Kiev would unnecessarily feed the Russian propaganda machine with material, which would mainly help Putin.

Any involvement by the Ukrainian government should therefore be viewed with great skepticism.

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