2023 Bryansk Oblast Raid
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On 2 March 2023, the
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n authorities said that an armed Ukrainian group crossed the border and attacked the villages of Lyubechane and
Sushany Sushany () is a village (selo) in western Russia, located in the Klimovsky District of Bryansk Oblast. Geography The village is located in southwestern Bryansk Oblast, in the Polesian Lowland. It is near Russia's state border with Ukraine. I ...
in
Bryansk Oblast Bryansk Oblast (), also known as Bryanshchina (, ), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 1,169,161. Geography Bryansk Oblast lies in weste ...
. Russia said the attackers fired on a car, killing two
civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...
s, before the
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
forced them back into Ukraine. The raid was claimed by the
Russian Volunteer Corps The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC; ) is a far-right paramilitary unit of Russia, Russian citizens, based in Ukraine. It was formed in August 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to fight against the Russia under Vladimir Putin, governm ...
; a paramilitary group of Russian citizens, based in Ukraine, which opposes the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin. Russia called the incident a terrorist attack, and said its 9 March missile strikes on Ukraine were retaliation. Ukraine's government denied involvement; it said the incident could have been a false-flag attack by Russia to justify its ongoing war against Ukraine, or else an attack by anti-government partisans from within Russia.


Background

In early February 2023, Bryansk Oblast authorities claimed that they had been strengthening the border with Ukraine. The
Governor of Bryansk Oblast The governor of Bryansk Oblast () is the highest official of Bryansk Oblast, a Federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. The Governor (Russia), governor heads the executive branch in the region and is elected by direct popular vote fo ...
Alexander Bogomaz posted photos from a meeting with "commanders of the group protecting the border" on his
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
channel, and stated that "the work done on the construction of protective structures and strongpoints was highly appreciated by the command of the
Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
."


Raid


Initial Russian reports

On 2 March 2023, at around 11:30 MSK, Bogomaz reported that a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group made an incursion into Russian territory, entering the village of Lyubechane,
Klimovsky District Klimovsky District () is an administrativeLaw #13-Z and municipalLaw #3-Z district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center i ...
. According to him, the saboteurs fired at a moving car, killing one adult and injuring a child. It was reported that the passenger car was transporting children to a class. Subsequent to this initial report,
TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...
reported, citing a law enforcement source, that the group had penetrated into two villages, Lubechane and Sushany, and took several residents hostage. According to
RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...
, a Russian Telegram channel posting local news reported that residents in the area heard explosions and gunfire. According to TASS, "members of the Rosgvardia entered into a clash with the militants". At 14:30, TASS, citing eyewitnesses, wrote that the "Ukrainian saboteurs" had ceased showing signs of activity and may have left Russian territory. "There is no one from the Ukrainian group on the territory of the Russian Federation, they all left. Now there is a search, possibly, for the remaining fighters of the VSU on our territory", said one of the agency's sources.


Official Russian account

The Russian government said that a Ukrainian sabotage group entered the Russian village of Lyubechane and fired on civilians in a car. The
Governor of Bryansk Oblast The governor of Bryansk Oblast () is the highest official of Bryansk Oblast, a Federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. The Governor (Russia), governor heads the executive branch in the region and is elected by direct popular vote fo ...
, Alexander Bogomaz, said two civilians were killed and an 11-year-old boy was wounded. Russia's
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
(FSB) said it acted together with the Russian military to "eliminate armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border". It later said that the attackers had been pushed back into Ukraine "where a massive artillery strike was inflicted on them". According to FSB, a large number of explosive devices had been found and demining was underway. The FSB did not mention the earlier report about a hostage-taking.


Claim of responsibility

Responsibility for the raid was claimed by the
Russian Volunteer Corps The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC; ) is a far-right paramilitary unit of Russia, Russian citizens, based in Ukraine. It was formed in August 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to fight against the Russia under Vladimir Putin, governm ...
(RDK; ), an armed group of far-right anti-government Russian nationalists fighting for Ukraine. Two videos posted online on 2 March show armed men in combat gear calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps. They say they crossed the border to fight "the bloody Putinite and Kremlin regime". Describing themselves as Russian "liberators", they called upon citizens to revolt against the government, and denied firing on civilians. One of the videos seems to have been filmed outside Lyubechane medical clinic., accessed 3 March 2023 According to an analysis by the American think tank
Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is an American nonprofit research group and advocacy think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan and headquartered in Washington, D.C. ISW provides research and analysis of modern arm ...
, social media users geolocated one of the two videos to
Sushany Sushany () is a village (selo) in western Russia, located in the Klimovsky District of Bryansk Oblast. Geography The village is located in southwestern Bryansk Oblast, in the Polesian Lowland. It is near Russia's state border with Ukraine. I ...
. RDK's leader Denis Kapustin said that the aim was to expose how weakly guarded Russia's border areas are and to inspire armed opposition against "Kremlin usurpers". According to him, the 45-strong attacking force included anti-government insurgents based in Russia, and acted with Ukraine's backing. On the day of the raid, Russian investigative journalism website
iStories iStories or Important Stories () is an independent Russian website specialising in investigative journalism. The website was founded in 2020 by Russian journalists Roman Anin and Olesya Shmagun. IStories published a number of high-profile inve ...
published an RDK member's account of the event; he said: "There were 45 of us on that mission. We went in, filmed, ambushed two BMPs. I didn't see any children injured. But there was one injured border guard. No hostages were taken."


Aftermath


Reactions

The
President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...
,
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, said in a televised address that Ukrainian neo-Nazi "terrorists" crossed the border and targeted civilians. Putin said the attack confirmed that Russia did the right thing by invading Ukraine. "They won't achieve anything. We will crush them," Putin said, claiming the group consisted of people who wanted to strip Russia of its history and language. Russia officially treats the event as an act of terrorism, and the
Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF; ) has since January 2011 been the main federal investigating authority in Russia. Its name (''Sledstvennyi komitet'') is usually abbreviated to ''SKR'' (). The agency replaced the Pro ...
has initiated a terrorism probe. The Ukrainian government and military denied carrying out a cross-border raid, and suggested Russia could use the allegations to justify further attacks on Ukraine.
Mykhailo Podolyak Mykhailo Mykhailovych Podolyak (; born 16 February 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and negotiator, serving as the advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. In 2022, he became one of the representatives of Ukraine ...
, adviser to the
President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...
, wrote on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
: "The story of a Ukrainian sabotage group in the Russian Federation is a classic deliberate provocation". He said Russia "wants to scare its people to justify attacking another country and growing poverty after a year of war." He told the Associated Press: "This was done by the Russians; Ukraine has nothing to do with it". Podolyak suggested the attack could have been carried out by an anti-government group within Russia, saying: "The partisan movement in the Russian Federation is getting stronger and more aggressive". According to a report by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', "Ukraine intelligence officials have tried to portray the incident as evidence of Russian divisions"; Andriy Cherniak, a representative of the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) was cited as saying: "This is a sign that Russia can no longer function normally and this leads to internal destruction". Separately, he noted that the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility, and indicated that Ukraine was not involved.
Andriy Yusov Andriy Volodymyrovych Yusov (; born 1983) is a Ukrainian activist and politician. Since 2022, he has served as the press representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Biography On 17 September 2 ...
, another GUR representative, suggested that the composition of the armed group was a sign of an internal struggle within Russia, and characterized the event as a "confrontation within the Russian Federation itself between the citizens of the Russian Federation".


Russian "retaliatory attack"


Other later events

On 9 March, a video was released of some hooded and armed fighters claiming to be against "the regime of Putin" and inciting people to join them in front of the entrance sign to the village of Plekhovo, in
Kursk Oblast Kursk Oblast (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kursk. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, Kursk Oblast had a pop ...
, Russia. In late May, RVC, and other rebel groups allied with Ukraine began making more sizable incursions into Belgorod Oblast, Russia.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryansk Oblast attack, 2023 Belarusian and Russian partisan movement (2022–present) 2023 in international relations Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine 2023 attack March 2023 in Russia Eastern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Attacks in Russia in 2023 Cross-border operations into Russia Federal Security Service Battles of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2023