Two people died and 19 others were injured on Thursday in western Russia’s Belgorod region as the country faced widespread drone attacks for a third day in a row, officials said, The Moscow Times reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said 14 Ukrainian drones were destroyed in border regions overnight, the latest wave of attacks ahead of the March 15-17 presidential election, which incumbent Vladimir Putin is all but guaranteed to win.
Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media that one woman was killed in the most recent Ukrainian air attacks on Thursday, while 19 others were injured.
In the other news, the Russian National Guard claimed it was repelling an attack near the village of Tyotkino in Kursk Oblast allegedly carried out by “sabotage groups” on March 14, The Kyiv Independent reported.
The statement came amid the combat operations conducted by the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Siberian Battalion, which crossed the border into Russia from Ukraine on March 12 and reportedly launched another attack.
Roman Starovoit, Kursk Oblast governor, claimed the battles with “Ukrainian saboteurs” were ongoing. The Russian National Guard claimed to have fought the attack near Tyotkino together with the Russian Armed Forces and Federal Security Service (FSB) border guards.
Later, the Freedom of Russia Legion published a video purporting to show an attack on Russian ammunition in Tyotkino.
Earlier, the anti-Kremlin militia claimed to have taken under control the village bordering Ukraine. Ukraine’s military intelligence said, the units are comprised of Russian citizens acting as part of Ukraine’s “security and defense forces.”
The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed to have thwarted an “attempted breakthrough” near the village of Spodaryushino in Belgorod Oblast on March 14, according to Russian state-controlled media outlet RBC.
The Freedom of Russia Legion, the Siberian Battalion, and the Russian Volunteer Corps published an appeal to the Kursk and Belgorod oblasts governors, urging them to declare an evacuation for civilians in the two regions and “to stop following criminal orders.”
“The liberation of Russian regions from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s terrorist regime is underway these minutes. Massive strikes are now being launched against Putin’s forces in the Belgorod and Kursk oblasts,” the statement read.
“The operation to liberate the Kursk and Belgorod regions will continue until all aims are achieved,” the anti-Kremlin militia said.
The Siberian Battalion urged Russians via social media to ignore the Russian presidential elections, which are set to take place on March 15-17, calling the ballots and polling stations “fiction.”
A group of Russian soldiers fighting for Kyiv who attacked Russian towns have urged civilians to evacuate within an hour and a half, The Telegraph reported.
The pro-Kyiv militia, the Freedom of Russia Legion, today renewed its call for civilians to flee Belgorod and Kursk, threatening large-scale attacks on military targets in the Russian border cities this morning.
“Immediately leave Kursk and Belgorod regions, all major population centers,” a member of the unit reportedly said in a video posted on social media.
“We will open fire on military targets on this territory within an hour and a half after this appeal.”
Alexei Baranovsky, a volunteer soldier for the group, has said the aim of the daring strikes is to disrupt tomorrow’s Russian election. Mr Baranovsky added that fighting has broken out in five settlements inside Russian territory, with footage circulating on social media of alleged strikes in Belgorod showing buildings and cars on fire, reportedly caused by shelling.
The counter-insurgency is one of the most public examples of Russian opposition to the Kremlin since Wagner’s mutinous march on Moscow last year under Yevgeny Prigozhin.
As for the rest, it’s just another “perfectly normal day” in Russia…
CIVIL MEDIA News Desk
