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The Russian city and Belgorod province of the same name have been affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Ciara SchlenzNews editor
Russian President Vladimir Putin, 70, is planning an attack on his own country to convince Russians of his war against Ukraine.
A recent analysis by military experts at a Washington think tank suggests that the Kremlin is currently spreading a targeted campaign of an imminent attack on Russia’s Belgorod region, 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Institute for War Studies (ISW) emerges.
For example, Leonid Petrovich Reshetnikov (75), a retired Russian lieutenant general and former director of Russian Strategic Studies (SVR), reports in a telegram that Ukrainian troops have allegedly invaded Belgorod. “An attack is actually being prepared, maybe not one, but two. Maybe preparing for a raid.
No strategic interest in invading Russia
According to ISW experts, this is pure propaganda. “Russian claims of an imminent Ukrainian attack on the Belgorod region are absurd and are only intended to scare the public into further support for the war.”
Because as a result of the partial demobilization in September and the military defeats in Kharkiv, support for a “stupid” war, especially in the Russian border areas, is falling sharply. The “Ukrainian” attack – or Russia’s “false flag” operation – on Belgorod, near the border, was intended to rectify this.
But Ukraine has no strategic interest in an invasion of Russia, ISW counters Russian claims. Additionally, Ukrainian troops are not in a position to launch an attack of this magnitude. Mykhailo Podoliak (50), an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44), warned of “false flag” actions on Twitter.
“I don’t want to dramatize the situation”
The narrative of the Ukrainian attack on Belgorod isn’t just benefiting the Kremlin – Yevgeny Prigozhin, 61, the founder and financier of the notorious Wagner Group, is also benefiting from this fear. In late October, “Putin Koch” began to build an independent line of fortifications in the Belgorod region, which he called the “Wagner Line”. In this way he wants to reaffirm his role in the war, writes ISW.
The governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Klatkov (53), posted pictures on his Telegram channel showing the construction of the fortifications. He himself has not yet spoken about the Ukrainian offensive in the region and dodged the question in Telegram: “I don’t want to dramatize the situation. In any case, we always consider several options for the course of events: hope, pessimism and the worst. So we are preparing for different scenarios. I hope we don’t need pessimistic options, But we are seriously considering them.”
Russians no longer feel safe in Belgorod
Due to Belgorod’s proximity to the Ukrainian border, the Russian city and the oblast of the same name were heavily affected by the Russian war in Ukraine. And people are moving out of the city and further inland. There is a dark mood of doom, says Ilya Kostyukov, an opposition activist who lives in Belgorod. “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”.
Shells repeatedly hit substations, oil depots, commercial centers and residential buildings in the city and villages near the border. It is unclear whether the shelling was from Ukraine or part of the Russian missile defense system. One thing is clear: Belgorod residents no longer feel safe. Food for propaganda was received from the Kremlin.
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