2023 Bryansk Oblast raid
| 2023 Bryansk Oblast raid | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Asymmetric engagement Subversion | |
| Deaths | 2 (per Russia)[a] |
| Injured | 2 (per Russia)[a] |
| Perpetrators |  Russian Volunteer Corps  Ukraine (per Russia) |
On 2 March 2023, the
Background
In early February 2023, Bryansk Oblast authorities claimed that they had been strengthening the border with Ukraine. The Governor of Bryansk Oblast Alexander Bogomaz posted photos from a meeting with "commanders of the group protecting the border" on his Telegram channel, and stated that "the work done on the construction of protective structures and strongpoints was highly appreciated by the command of the Russian Armed Forces."[5]
Raid
Initial Russian reports
On 2 March 2023, at around 11:30
According to TASS, "members of the Rosgvardia entered into a clash with the militants".[7] At 14:30, TASS, citing eyewitnesses, wrote that the "Ukrainian saboteurs" had ceased showing signs of activity and may have left Russian territory. "There is no one from the Ukrainian group on the territory of the Russian Federation, they all left. Now there is a search, possibly, for the remaining fighters of the VSU on our territory", said one of the agency's sources.[7]
Official Russian account
The Russian government said that a Ukrainian sabotage group entered the Russian village of Lyubechane and fired on civilians in a car.[9] The Governor of Bryansk Oblast, Alexander Bogomaz, said two civilians were killed and an 11-year-old boy was wounded.[9][8]
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it acted together with the Russian military to "eliminate armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border".[2] It later said that the attackers had been pushed back into Ukraine "where a massive artillery strike was inflicted on them".[2] According to FSB, a large number of explosive devices had been found and demining was underway. The FSB did not mention the earlier report about a hostage-taking.[9]
Claim of responsibility
Responsibility for the raid was claimed by the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK; Russian: Русский добровольческий корпус, romanized: Russkiy dobrovol'cheskiy korpus), an armed group of far-right[10][4] anti-government Russian nationalists[11] fighting for Ukraine.[c][12][10][b]
Two videos posted online on 2 March show armed men in combat gear calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps. They say they crossed the border to fight "the bloody Putinite and Kremlin regime". Describing themselves as Russian "liberators", they called upon citizens to revolt against the government, and denied firing on civilians.[9] One of the videos seems to have been filmed outside Lyubechane medical clinic.[13] According to an analysis by the American think tank Institute for the Study of War, social media users geolocated one of the two videos to Sushany.[14]
RDK's leader Denis Kapustin said that the aim was to expose how weakly guarded Russia's border areas are and to inspire armed opposition against "Kremlin usurpers".[15] According to him, the 45-strong attacking force included anti-government insurgents based in Russia,[15] and acted with Ukraine's backing.[11] On the day of the raid, Russian investigative journalism website iStories published an RDK member's account of the event; he said: "There were 45 of us on that mission. We went in, filmed, ambushed two BMPs. I didn't see any children injured. But there was one injured border guard. No hostages were taken."[16]
Aftermath
Reactions
The
The Ukrainian government and military denied carrying out a cross-border raid,
According to a report by The New York Times, "Ukraine intelligence officials have tried to portray the incident as evidence of Russian divisions"; Andriy Cherniak, a representative of the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) was cited as saying: "This is a sign that Russia can no longer function normally and this leads to internal destruction".[12] Separately, he noted that the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility, and indicated that Ukraine was not involved.[19] Andriy Yusov, another GUR representative, suggested that the composition of the armed group was a sign of an internal struggle within Russia,[9] and characterized the event as a "confrontation within the Russian Federation itself between the citizens of the Russian Federation".[20]
Russian "retaliatory attack"
On 9 March Russia attacked Ukraine with an estimated 81 missiles.
Other later events
On 9 March, a video was released of some hooded and armed fighters claiming to be against "the regime of Putin" and inciting people to join them in front of the entrance sign to the village of Plekhovo, in Kursk Oblast, Russia.[24]
In late May, RVC, and other rebel groups allied with Ukraine began making more sizable incursions into Belgorod Oblast, Russia.[25][26][27]
Notes
- ^ Novaya Gazeta Europe (Russian version): "According to TASS, the "saboteurs" attacked two villages, Lubechane and Sushany. As a result, two civilians were killed and two were injured."[1]
- ^ a b In the immediate aftermath, Ukrainian officials have said that the group is independent.[4]
- Novaya Gazeta Europe: "The neo-Nazi movement Russian Volunteer Corps, a unit of Russian military volunteers fighting for Ukraine, claimed responsibility for the attack."[1]
References
- ^ Novaya Gazeta Europe. 2023-03-05. Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
The Anti-Defamation League describes [Denis Nikitin] as a "neo-Nazi" who lived in Germany for many years.
transl. "The saboteurs fired at a moving vehicle. As a result of the shooting, one resident was killed and a ten-year-old child was wounded," the governor wrote."
transl. Some Telegram channels, in particular SHOT, first reported that a group of saboteurs attacked a "school bus," but it soon became clear that the vehicle in question was a car in which the children were taken to class.
The Russian Volunteer Corps is the first attempt by Russian neo-Nazis to unite in a political-military alliance abroad since the failed Russian Center.
The attacks in Bryansk, meanwhile, were quickly claimed by fighters who said they were members of a far-right Russian anti-Putin nationalist group
[...]
Kapustin told the Financial Times that a recent cross-border raid he'd conducted from Ukraine into Russia had the endorsement of Kyiv.
