Moscow considers the rebels defeated, although attacks in Belgorod continue

Although he Ministry of Defense of Moscow assured this Tuesday “defeating” the insurgents In order to keep the situation in the Belgorod region under control, which was attacked from Ukrainian territory on Monday by Russian partisans fighting on the side of Kiev, there are more and more photos of these heavily armed fighters in a fighting stance on social networks.

Anton Gerashenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, assured this on Telegram The rebels already control a front of 40 kilometers with the border behind them and from where they could receive supplies. Russian newspaper Kommersant he even reported that a barracks was attacked in the Graivoronsky district of Belgorod, where two soldiers were killed and four had to be hospitalized.

However, the Kremlin said in its note that the attackers were “blocked and defeated, destroyed by air bombardment and artillery fire.” He calls them Ukrainian “nationalist formations” and claims that “the rest were rejected and expelled to the territory of Ukraine (…), where the bombing will continue until their complete destruction.” The Russian military reported that “seventy terrorists” were killed during the clash.

The thing is that if not a single partisan remained in the Belgorod region, that is not entirely clear Why can’t the neighbors go back to their houses? of the nine cities that were evacuated in the last few hours. The explanation given by the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, was that “the clearing of the territory continues” and that the area (he spoke of a total of twenty cities affected) “continues to be bombarded by attackers and Ukrainian forces” from the other side of the border with artillery and drones.

The border villages that, according to Gladkov, had to be evacuated are Graivoron, where the attack on the border post began on Monday, Novostroevka, Gorkovsky, Bezimeno, Spodariusheno, Mókraya Orlovka, Glótovo, Gorá Podol and Zamostie, all at the epicenter of armed conflicts in recent hours and located south of the hypothetical 40-kilometer front line that Geráshenko spoke of.

new raids

But that length may have increased at its eastern end, if the information from the Ukrainian agency UNIAN is correct that the partisans occupied the village of Shetinovka on Tuesday. Russian ultra-nationalist channel Zapiski veterana has at least admitted that fierce fighting is taking place there. Other information that appeared on the networks claimed that there was a second incursion from Ukraine this Tuesday, but Gladkov denied this. He named several localities in the Borisov district and said that there “There was shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there were strikes. But none of the civilians were injured”.. According to him, “some Telegram channels are beginning to interpret this information as a new penetration of enemy forces and an attempt to intimidate people. That didn’t happen.”

“The FSB, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Defense do not confirm these reports. The army solves it,” he added.

In any case, not far from that same environment, according to the spokesman of the Ukrainian military intelligence service Andrii Yusov, there is Storage of warheads in Belgorodwhich, according to what he wrote on Telegram, would be transfer to another place in a “rushed” manner. But to calm things down and prevent the alarm from spreading further in other Russian regions bordering Ukraine, Moscow decided on Tuesday to lift the “special counter-terrorist operation regime” introduced on Monday.

movement restrictions

It foresees a whole series of movement restrictions and enhanced security measures by police and army controls on roads and nerve centers such as traffic junctions, communications, vital infrastructure or official buildings. This was announced by the governor, adding that since Monday, thirteen civilians have been injured in the attacks, and one is dead in the village of Kozinka. An elderly woman died during the evacuation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov admitted on Tuesday that the events in Belgorod “cause deep concern” in the country’s leadership. “This once again shows that Ukrainian armed groups continue their activities against our country (…) That is why the special military operation in Ukraine will continue, in order to prevent such incursions in the future,” he said. For its part, the Russian Investigative Committee (SK in the Russian acronym) opened criminal proceedings on Tuesday under six articles, the most serious terrorism, “for the attack on the population in Belgorod”. However, Kiev continues to deny that their army has anything to do with the attacks and once again point out that the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) and the Russian Freedom Legion (LSR) are involved. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Maliar said on Tuesday: “We are not waging any war on foreign territories (…) This is an internal Russian crisis.”

The Russian Freedom Legion, made up of Russian prisoners of war, deserters or people who fled the country to avoid mobilization and decided to join the enemy’s ranks, is considered a “terrorist organization” in Russia. The first mention of this group appeared on March 10, 2022, on the Telegram channel of the same name. As for the Russian Volunteer Corps, which Moscow also classifies as terrorist, it is a unit integrated into the Territorial Defense of Ukraine, which was created in August 2022 and is made up of Russian nationalists opposed to Putin.

Borrell announces the start of training of Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighters in Europe

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell was pleased on Tuesday that the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in different countries had “started”. “I am happy that pilot training for the F-16 has finally started in several countries,” Borrell told reporters after arriving at the Council of EU Defense Ministers.

The head of European diplomacy said that this training “will last” – about 18 months, according to the US – but she emphasized that the sooner it starts, “the better”, because it “opens the door to the care of fighters”. According to Borrell, the delivery of a new type of weapon to Ukraine to defend against a Russian invasion initially creates “repulsion” among Kiev’s allies, although it is eventually overcome, as in the case of the Leopard tanks. “In the end, the decision comes to provide this military support because it is absolutely necessary for Ukraine to continue to defend itself,” he said. Training of Ukrainian pilots in “several countries” has begun.

The Dutch Minister of Defense, Kajsa Ollongren, said upon arrival at the meeting that they were working on a deadline for the start of the training and believes that “it is important to do it as soon as possible” now that the US has given the green light to begin. they can train to operate these US-made aircraft. Ollongren assured that it was a “coordinated effort” by the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, the United Kingdom and other allies. “We will speed up now that we know we have the green light for preparations,” he said.

delivery of ammunition

EU countries have already supplied Ukraine with 220,000 missiles of various calibers and 1,300 missiles from the arsenals of their national armies, as part of the Community’s plan to donate one million pieces of ammunition to Kiev in one year, Borrell said. meeting.

In March, the EU agreed to a plan to give Ukraine one million pieces of artillery ammunition in twelve months, which includes donating to Ukraine as soon as possible the stocks of ammunition that EU countries already have or have already ordered from the industry. This route can be used until May 31. It is also planned to allocate 1,000 million euros for joint procurement for the industry of the EU and Norway and to increase the production capacity of European factories.