Three Ukrainian-backed paramilitary groups that purport to be made up of Russians opposed to the Kremlin said yesterday their forces were continuing their cross-border attacks following a week of raids.
The groups launched incursions from northern Ukraine last week into the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod, claiming to have entered several villages on the Russian side of the border.
“The operation, even right now, is continuing. We will talk about our losses after it’s conclusion,” Denis Kapustin, leader of one of the groups, the right-wing Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), told a Press conference in response to a question about the unit’s losses. Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claims.
Russian officials have made vague reference to “Ukrainian terrorists” in their comments about the groups’ recent attacks. They have previously cast the groups as puppets of Ukraine’s military and the US Central Intelligence Agency.
The current raid follows previous actions by two of the groups in Russian border regions in May 2023.
The other two groups at the Press conference in central Kyiv were the Freedom of Russia legion and the Siberia Battalion, which says it is comprised of indigenous groups from Russian territory.
They said they received intelligence and logistics support from the Ukrainian armed forces, but repeated their assertion that they were acting independently of Kyiv when fighting on Russian territory.
Kapustin said Ukraine provided ammunition and medical evacuation for his fighters.
However, asked about the provenance of the unit’s weapons, Kapustin smiled and said that one could buy tanks and rocket launcher systems in a military surplus shop.
He appeared to be referencing similar comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014 when he dismissed a question about the Russian military’s involvement in the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.