Ukraine denies Russia’s accusations of attack in Belgorod border region

Contrasting versions. Russia claimed it was fighting a cross-border raid by saboteurs who broke into the border from Urania to the Belgorod region. Some accusations that kyiv denies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed and that work was underway to expel the “saboteurs”, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Is about one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war started last year. The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkovclaimed that a Ukrainian “sabotage group” had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district, on the border with Ukraine, and was being repelled.

In addition, he explained that at least six people had been injured and three houses and an administrative building had been affected. However, the figures are yet to be confirmed.

The information provided by kyiv is different. According to the adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, Mykhailo Podolyakthe country has “nothing to do” with the raid.

“Ukraine is following the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and is studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it,” he tweeted.

Besides, podolyak told Reuters that “the violent resistance movement of Russia, whose architects are exclusively citizens of Russia itselfis gradually coming out of hiding.”

The Ukrainian outlet ‘Hromadske’ cited the country’s military intelligence that held two armed groups of the Russian opposition responsible: the Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps. both pReportedly made up of Russian defectors and far-right extremists, the groups say they have “liberated” at least three settlements in the Belgorod and Bryansk regions.

For its part, the Legion of the Freedom of Russia, a militia based in Ukraine led by opposition figure to President Putin, Ilya Ponomarev; He said on Twitter that he had “completely liberated” the border town of Kozinka.

“We move on. Russia will be free!” he wrote on the social network.

Ukrainian public broadcaster ‘Suspilne’ quoted the group’s press service as saying that the situation on the ground was difficult, but the fighters were still pressing.

Later, the Kremlin launched what it called a anti-terrorist operation in the southern region.

“To ensure the safety of citizens in the Belgorod region, the legal regime against terrorism was introduced today,” the governor said in a statement.

The measure grants special powers to the security services and implies the application of a series of restrictions: reinforced security, identity verification, communications surveillance, among others.

Ukraine reconnected Zaporizhia nuclear plant, which remains “extremely vulnerable”

It was the seventh time since the Russian war in Ukraine began that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its external power supply amid Russian attacks. Situation that the Agency International Atomic Energy (IAEA) said it was “extremely vulnerable”.

However, in the last few hours, Energoatom, the Ukrainian state company for the nation’s nuclear power plants, reported that experts restored operation of the Dniprovsk 750 kV high-voltage power transmission line, from which the plant temporarily busy satisfies her own needs.

“The station is switching (back) to the power supply of the Ukrainian electrical system,” Energoatom synthesized.

In the early hours of this May 22, the external supply was disconnected after a bombardment by Russian troops, which had left the facility dependent on emergency generators, in an attempt to ensure that the nuclear fuel remained cold and avoid a possible disaster.

The new incident raised the alarms of the IAEA, whose director, Rafael Grossi, stressed the need for international protection.

Although the six reactors at the atomic facility, the largest in Europe, remain shut down amid the invasion, they still need a constant supply of electricity to keep the nuclear fuel inside cool and prevent a possible meltdown, experts say.

But the situation is risky, as the plant is located in a Russian-occupied area of ​​southern Ukraine, close to the battlefront along the Dnipro River, an area hit repeatedly by shelling blamed on both sides of the conflict. .

Kiev said that due to the latest onslaught from Moscow, electricity service was interrupted for almost 250,000 consumers in the Zaporizhzhia region, although most of it has already been restored.

Bakhmut remains the “epicenter” of fighting

Despite the fact that over the weekend the mercenaries of the Wagner group, who are fighting on behalf of Russia, announced the total capture of Bakhmut, a city that has been the center of the bloodiest fighting in the last 10 months, Kiev assured this Monday that its forces They advance north and south of the town.

“Through our movement on the flanks, to the north and south, we managed to destroy the enemy (…) By moving on the flanks and occupying certain heights there, our Armed Forces have made it very difficult for the enemy to stay in the city” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday.

Since the Russian private paramilitary group claimed to have completely taken over the town in eastern Ukraine, confusion has reigned because kyiv denies that version.

Furthermore, even as the Russians were advancing into Bakhmut, their forces on the northern and southern outskirts of the city were rapidly retreating, giving both sides reason to claim that the momentum has now reversed direction.

“Wagner group mercenaries likely secured the western administrative borders of the city of Bakhmut, while Ukrainian forces continue to prioritize counterattacks on the outskirts of Bakhmut,” experts from the US-based Institute for the Study of War explained. .

In the midst of this panorama, the leader and founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on May 22 that his forces will leave Bakhmut at the beginning of June, in a planned transfer of command with the Russian troops that would take place between May 25 and June 1.

Prigozhin added that his fighters set up “defense lines” outside the western part of Bakhmut to make it easier for Kremlin forces to take positions.

The local army affirms that its advance on the flanks of the Russian ranks has been more significant than its withdrawal inside the city and that the reinforcements sent by Russia to hold Bakhmut will weaken its battle lines in other places.

The forces of the invaded country do not give up and insist that they continue their offensive to enter the town in ruins.

For Moscow, a capture of Bakhmut would open the way for further gains in the greater Donbass region in the east of the beleaguered nation, where the Kremlin has stepped up its attacks in recent months.

With Reuters and AP