KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military intelligence service, Hromadsky, blamed an armed operation in Russia’s Belgorod region on Monday on “oppositional Russian citizens” from two paramilitary groups, state news agency Hromadsky said.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a “sabotage group” of the Ukrainian army had entered Russian territory in the Grivoron region bordering Ukraine.
Hromadsk quoted military intelligence spokesman Andrei Yusov as saying the Russian Freedom Corps and the Russian Volunteer Corps were responsible for the incursion. It did not clarify whether he provided any evidence for this assertion.
“Responsibility for these events was borne by (Russia’s) citizens, in particular the RDK and the ‘Freedom of Russia’ legion,” he said, using the acronym for the Russian Volunteer Legion.
“I think we all cannot help but welcome the decisive actions of opposition-minded Russian citizens, who are ready for an armed struggle against the criminal regime of (President) Vladimir Putin.”
Yusov said the Belgorod operation would create a “security zone” to protect Ukrainians from cross-border attacks by Russia.
(Reporting by Dan Belichuk; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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