Fighting in Russian region enters second day after raid from Ukraine
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[May 23, 2023]
By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) -Fighting in Russia's Belgorod region entered a second
day on Tuesday, and its governor told residents who fled after a
cross-border incursion of armed fighters from Ukraine that it was still
not safe to return to their homes.
Monday's incursion, apparently involving armoured vehicles, was the
biggest raid into Russia since the war began 15 months ago, though
details including the number of fighters involved, their affiliation and
the extent of any clashes, could not be independently confirmed.
Russian authorities evacuated residents from the region's Graivoron
district after the raiding forces claimed to have captured the border
town of Kozinka and several others.
"The cleansing of the territory by the Ministry of Defence together with
law enforcement agencies continues," Belgorod governor Vyacheslav
Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging service.
"I now appeal to the residents of the Graivoron district, who ...
temporarily left their homes, it is not possible to return yet," he
said, adding that two buildings had been attacked by drones overnight.
Gladkov said one woman had died during the evacuation, and there were
reports of two people wounded. The "number one" task on Tuesday was to
reach them. On Monday, Gladkov had said at least eight people had been
wounded, several buildings damaged and many residents had left.
One of the groups claiming responsibility for the incursion, the Freedom
of Russia Legion, said on Telegram: "Good morning everybody, except
Putin's henchmen. We have met the dawn on liberated territory, and are
moving further on."
It and a second group, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), say they
represent armed Russian fighters opposed to the Kremlin and operating
from Ukraine.
Moscow blamed the attack on Ukrainian forces, saying saboteurs were
seeking to deflect attention from Russia's capture of the city of
Bakhmut three days ago after the bloodiest land battle in Europe since
World War Two.
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Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav
Gladkov attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at
the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia January 24,
2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS
Russian investigators said they were opening a terrorism case into
the incursion.
Kyiv publicly denied blame for the raid, though some of its denials
were pitched with apparent irony, to mimic past Russian denials of a
role in separatist movements in Ukraine.
Kyiv "has nothing to do with it", tweeted Ukrainian presidential
adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. "As you know, tanks are sold at any
Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are
composed of Russian citizens."
The RVC published video footage late on Monday showing what it said
was a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle, putting a
sticker with the group's logo over the "Z" symbol used to identify
Russian forces. Another video showed what it said were fighters
operating an armoured vehicle on a country road.
Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels
showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian
servicemen and their identity documents.
Mash, a Russian news channel on Telegram, said drones had struck the
roof of the Russian FSB security service building in Belgorod city
overnight, nearly 80 km (50 miles) from the district where the raid
took place. It posted a picture of emergency vehicles outside the
building.
Inside Ukraine, Russian forces are celebrating their first major
victory in 10 months with the capture of Bakhmut. Kyiv says its
forces have been making their own gains on the outskirts of the city
to the north and south.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Ukrainian marines on Tuesday,
positing pictures at an undisclosed location he said was on the
front line.
(Reporting by Reuters bureauxWriting by Robert Birsel and Peter
GraffEditing by John Stonestreet)
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