That’s what Tom Rosth, director of the Division of Intelligence at the National Defense College, said.
He comments on reports in recent days that the paramilitary groups Legion: Freedom for Russia and the Russian Volunteer Corps attacked one or more Russian border villages in Belgorod Province.
The groups are said to consist of pro-Ukrainian Russians, who are said to have also fought against Russian forces in Ukraine.
But the Ministry of Defense of Russia calls them Ukrainian nationalists.
They are said to have fought with warplanes and artillery on Tuesday, they claim – without independently confirming the information.
What is clear, however, is that it has caused a headache: As many as nine Russian villages on the border have been evacuated as a result of the measures.
The extraordinary evacuation has since been lifted.
The alleged vandalism attack: – Absolutely unrealistic
This is how they play
Dagbladet wrote on Tuesday that the Russian Volunteer Corps is led by neo-Nazi Denis Kapustin (38), and that many members, including Alexei Levkin, are based on the same ideology.
Levkin has paid tribute to, among others, Adolf Hitler, Anders Behring Breivik and American terrorist Timothy McVeigh, according to the Bellingcat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the main goal of the ongoing “special operation” is to “mutilate” Ukraine.
This is Putin’s excuse
When asked if the attacks in this way are directly in the hands of the Kremlin, Roseth said that one must distinguish between the actual events and the media operations carried out by the two parties.
He explains:
– On the one hand, Ukraine managed to play this very well. Their message is that this is the result of weakness on the Russian side. It is also a problem for the Russian side that these are Russians fighting other Russians. This has shown that Russia’s war machine has weaknesses, and Russia’s defense is cracking.
On the other hand, the Russian authorities claim that Ukraine and the Ukrainians are behind it, says Roseth.
– It is likely that in this matter they will play with Nazism, as they also did with the breakthrough in Bryansk in March. This is despite the fact that only the Russian Volunteer Corps, as far as I know, has obvious neo-Nazi elements. Both groups are also fringe.
Words Against Words: Words stand against words when it comes to descriptions of who’s behind it, and both sides are trying to emerge victorious, Roseth explains. Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces
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– He may have been notified
What kind of role could Ukraine have played in the attacks?
– It remains to be speculated, but the Ukrainians at least let these groups pass. I assume they were informed, but how much information they received is unclear, the intelligence expert continues.
The groups are also said to have used US Humvees in the attacks.
– It could mean that they got it from Ukraine, or that they got it themselves in other ways. Rosth adds: I think Ukraine is careful not to get involved directly.
The New York Times An unnamed Ukrainian official was quoted as saying that Ukraine has not sent troops to Russia, but has played a “supportive role” for the aforementioned groups at the border.
On standby: A Russian helicopter flew over the town of Gragorun, Belgorod region, on Tuesday. Photo: Aleksandr Chernykh/Kommersant/Sipa USA/NTB
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Uncertainty is spreading
Rosth concludes by saying that he is amazed that such attacks have taken place on Russian soil, and points out that Russia has spent huge sums of money on securing its borders after previous incidents.
Here, the thrusters clearly didn’t work as intended. If this shows the defense working around the front line, it bodes well for the Ukrainian counterattack, he said.
He certainly assumes that the Russians have better fortified their positions in the occupied Ukrainian lands.
But his opinion seems to be spreading to Russia now, too.
When the Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov A.I live feed In his profile on VK (the Russian version of Facebook) on Tuesday, he was asked how “the enemy can get into the center of the region with tanks, when the authorities say ‘everything is under control’.”
– Borders seem porous? the viewer asked.
Gladkov replied that the question was justified, and that he himself had several questions for the Russian Defense Ministry, without wanting further comment, according to the Russian online newspaper The Independent. Medusa.
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