Belgorod Oblast: Russian Volunteer Corps claims its equipment is intact and accuses Russian Defence Ministry of lying
The Russian Volunteer Corps has said that the Russian Ministry of Defence is spreading false information about the alleged destruction of a convoy of their equipment in Bryansk Oblast, Russia.
Source: Russian Volunteer Corps on Telegram; Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov
Details: The Russian Defence Ministry shared a video on its Telegram channel claiming to show a number of military vehicles belonging to the "saboteurs".
In response, the Russian Volunteer Corps said they did not know "whose convoys of equipment Mr Konashenkov destroyed in his reports, but the Russian Volunteer Corps has not suffered any losses." [Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov is a Russian military officer serving as the chief spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation – ed.]
Meanwhile, Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that residents who fled the previous day have now returned to their homes in Grayvoron and Golovchino, and that the residents of Gora-Podol, Glotovo and Kozinka will be brought back "in the near future".
Gladkov also claimed to have visited the three villages – Gora-Podol, Glotovo and Kozinka – that the "saboteurs" entered the day before.
Background:
- On 22 May, Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion announced that they had crossed the border and were "liberating" the settlements of Belgorod Oblast from the current Russian regime. They said they were starting with the villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol, but were seeking to "liberate" all of Russia.
- Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, has described the events taking place in Russia's Belgorod Oblast on 22 May as the creation of a "security zone" to protect Ukrainian citizens. Yusov stressed that the operation was conducted exclusively by Russian citizens.
- Gladkov has reported that the majority of residents of the Grayvoron district had left their settlements.
- On 23 May, Gladkov announced that the counter-terrorist operation regime in Belgorod Oblast had been cancelled.
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