The governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov announced the introduction of a counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime in the region due to the penetration of sabotage groups from Ukraine into the region.
According to him, the CTO regime “establishes special measures and temporary restrictions.” “Starting from checking individuals’ documents proving their identity and ending with the suspension of the activities of hazardous industries and organizations that use explosive, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances,” the official said.
Also, the governor of the Belgorod region reported a drone shot down over the territory of the region. “According to preliminary data, there are no casualties. The operational services are clarifying the consequences on the ground,” Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
At the same time, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak, commenting on the events in the region, declaredthat Ukraine is not directly related to the sabotage group operating in the Belgorod region, but “is following the ongoing events with interest and is studying the situation.”
According to him, the only driving force in a totalitarian country “always inevitably becomes a partisan movement with weapons in their hands.” Podolyak added that “underground partisan detachments are still made up of Russian citizens.”
Earlier, Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, told the Ukrainian Suspilna channel that the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps were indeed conducting an operation in the Belgorod region in order to push back the “enemy in order to create a certain security zone for protection Ukrainian civilian population”. He stressed that “exclusively citizens of Russia” entered the Belgorod region.
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On the morning of May 22, the Freedom of Russia Legion, a volunteer unit fighting on the side of Ukraine, announced its entry into the Belgorod Region. “Forward detachments have entered Grayvoron.” “We’re moving on. Russia will be free!” the message reads.
The Russian authorities for several hours did not confirm the sabotage of the “Legion of Freedom of Russia” in the Belgorod region. Subsequently, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed that “a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine entered the territory of the Graivoron urban district of the region.”
Gladkov also claims that after the shelling of the village of Glotovo, Graivoron District, a man and a woman with mine-explosive wounds were taken to the district hospital. According to him, the woman is in intensive care in a serious condition, the man is in a state of moderate severity. Prior to this, the governor stated that on May 22 there were neither wounded nor killed in the Belgorod region.
This is at least the second sabotage operation in Russia. In early March, the “Russian Volunteer Corps” took responsibility for the raid in the Bryansk region, during which its fighters occupied the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany for a short time. The governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz claimed that two people were killed and one child was injured in the attack.
