Dhe attacks by Russian paramilitaries from Ukraine on the border areas of Belgorod and Kursk in Russia are keeping the Moscow leadership on tenterhooks during the presidential election. President Vladimir Putin will be constantly informed about the attacks, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday. Two people were killed by rocket fire in the regional capital Belgorod.
On Sunday night, the third and final day of voting, Russian air defense intercepted several Ukrainian missiles and drones, according to authorities. A converted S-200 anti-aircraft missile was shot down over the Bryansk border area southwest of Moscow. Three Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the Kaluga region, which is even closer to Moscow, local governor Vladyslav Shapscha said on Telegram. There was no damage or injuries. The information could not be independently verified.
Ukraine has been fending off a large-scale Russian invasion for over two years and is now increasingly bringing the war back to Russia with improved combat drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj called the longer range an important strengthening of military potential. For Ukraine, the 753rd day of the war also began with an air alarm. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian aircraft threatened to drop glide bombs in the northeast. In the south, Russian drones flew from the Black Sea towards the port city of Odessa.
Villages in the Belgorod region of Russia without electricity
According to the Belgorod regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, in the Russian district of Grajvoron directly on the Ukrainian border, around ten villages were still without electricity on Sunday night after shelling from the Ukrainian side. On Saturday, the regional capital Belgorod itself, which is about 50 kilometers from the border, was also affected. Two people died in rocket attacks and, according to Gladkow, several people were injured.
In the past few days there had been attacks in the Belgorod region and the Kursk region that Russian paramilitaries claimed responsibility for. They fight on the side of the Ukrainians and are declared opponents of Putin. The military situation in the border villages is unclear. Kremlin spokesman Peskov reiterated on Saturday that attempts to invade Russia had failed. Other information suggests that attackers are still on Russian territory.
As a sign that the Kremlin is taking the development seriously, Putin responded personally on Friday. He said the attackers wanted to disrupt the presidential election. But that will not succeed because the Russian people will unite against it. “The corrupt regime in Kiev has intensified its terrorist attacks because of the presidential election in Russia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Saturday.
Ukraine: We help the Russian exiles
The government in Kiev claims that Russian units such as the Free Russia Legion or the Sibir Battalion are acting on their own initiative in the attacks in Russia. But it stands to reason that their weapons, including tanks, come from Ukrainian stocks. The exiled Russian units supported Ukraine from the first day of the war in February 2022, said the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, on television. “We try to help them as much as we can.”
Putin wants to secure a fifth term in office in the election. But it takes place under the complete control of the authorities. The Kremlin leader has no real opponents. Observers point to election fraud. There is international criticism that Moscow is illegally conducting this sham vote in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
“In these weeks, many have already seen that the Russian system of warfare has weak points and that we can reach these weak points with our weapons,” Zelensky said in his evening video message on Saturday. He was apparently referring to several successful attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries located far into the enemy’s hinterland.
On Saturday night, three oil facilities were attacked in the Russian region of Samara on the Volga, which is more than 1,000 kilometers east of Ukraine. With such attacks, Ukraine wants to disrupt Russian fuel production so that the military receives fewer supplies. The income from oil production, which Moscow uses to finance its war, is also to be reduced.
Little is known about the technical development of Ukrainian drones; However, their successful use over long distances has been documented for several weeks. “From now on, Ukraine will always have its own clout in the skies,” said Zelensky.
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