Saboteurs fighting in Russia’s Belgorod Region – governor

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod Region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Sunday that a sabotage group from Ukraine has entered a local settlement and is currently engaged in fighting with Russian forces. The attack was repulsed, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.

In a video address, Gladkov responded to Denis Nikitin, the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a neo-Nazi group of Russian nationals fighting on Kiev's side. In his video, the governor stated that a battle with the corps detachment was currently raging in Belgorod Region, and that he hoped that all members of the group would be killed. 

“I saw the appeal of scoundrels, bastards, murderers and fascists who allegedly want to meet with me, offering a conversation in exchange for prisoners. In fact, a group of sabouteurs went in, there is a battle in Novaya Tavolzhanka. I hope that they will all be destroyed, it cannot be otherwise. Every day civilians die at the hands of these fascists, we bury them every day. Crippled children and dead old people – that's their handiwork,” he said.

In late May, a Ukrainian sabotage group conducted an incursion into the Grayvoronsky District of Belgorod Region. They managed to briefly capture a few villages before encountering a swift response from the Russian military, resulting in significant casualties for the attackers. The incident left one civilian dead and several injured.

Following the late May attack, the Russian Defense Ministry declared that the shootout had resulted in the destruction of “over 70 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored combat vehicles, and five pickup trucks.” Subsequently, the remaining militants were forced back into Ukraine and came under fire from Russian artillery. 

In an apparent attempt to distance itself from the raid, Kiev attributed responsibility to the 'Freedom of Russia Legion' and the 'Russian Volunteer Corps', both neo-Nazi groups involved in a similar assault on Bryansk Region back in March.