Ukraine opened a new front in his struggle to repel the Russian invader Russia. But he did not acknowledge what he had sent BandsFired artillery and launched drones into its neighbours.
The actions of Russian citizens carrying Ukrainian military ID cards, wearing Ukrainian uniforms and attacking from Ukraine remain officially opaque. CNN writes that this is Kiev’s contribution to what is known as “hybrid warfare” in the “grey zone” of the conflict.
Books have been written about the two terms since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014.
Then, inside Crimea “Green men” appeared in uniform hunting uniforms – and Russian military uniforms.
When it was suggested that these men were actually Russian troops, Vladimir Putin “You can go to a store and buy any kind of uniform,” he joked.
Moscow’s official line is that those who raised the Russian flag over Simferopol and attacked the local Crimean parliament were “defensive units” of pro-Russian Ukrainians eager to bring their territory under Moscow’s rule.
up to Moscow Much of the former republic under Putin’s control has actually admitted to having his forces in Ukraine.
Now, on a smaller scale, Ukraine is embracing the same tactics to try to gain a strategic effect.
The Russian Voluntary Force and the Freedom for Russia Legion – which fight alongside Ukraine’s military – have carried out brief cross-border attacks into Russia.
The main objective? instability.
Although terminology and methods have evolved, there is nothing new about tactics. Except in Russia, apartheid regimes Africa The South used similar techniques in the 1970s and 1980s, attacking the leading states of Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Pretoria sent troops on cross-border raids to destabilize independent African nations that opposed its apartheid rule. They often posed as local freedom fighters in classic “false flag” attacks against civilians in an attempt to undermine support for liberation movements.
These groups are often made up of fighters from Angola or Zimbabwe who add “credibility” to the atrocities they believe they are telling others. They were often led by white men in black camouflage.
The long-term goal and often the result is to keep the countries that supported South Africa’s internal liberation struggle permanently in crisis.
Russia is captured
In Ukraine, Kiev uses the Russians to invade Russia on its behalf.
Tactical results may be limited. Short trips into small border villages. But the desired effect of destabilization in Russia is achieved.
Russian television was flooded with reports from local journalists about artillery strikes against Russian cities.
The governor of Belgorod, a region hit hard by the latest Ukrainian campaign, has evacuated hundreds of civilians, has had a private phone call with Putin and has already won praise for his efforts.
Meanwhile, the Russian Freedom Legion is posting ads on its Telegram channel for people who know how to use drones.
That may or may not be behind the increasing number of drone strikes hitting the Russian border, from the Kremlin and Moscow’s upscale suburbs, home to Putin’s allies, to the cities of Kursk, Smelensk and Krasnodar.
Drone strikes in capital bring war from Ukraine to Russia
The idea for Kiev is to make the attacks inside Russia feel like a distinctly Russian scent — more Russians considering dissent and joining their own effort to oust Putin.
Both the Russian Volunteer Army and the Russian Liberation Army claim to have supporters in their home countries.
May. Someone flew the blue and white flag of the anti-Russian movement at Moscow University last week. Someone helps fly drones to Russian targets.
As for Ukraine, the more Russians believe their countrymen are complicit in attacking the Russian regime, the better. Doubt is destabilizing.
Judging by the rhetoric coming out of Russia, it’s working.
Opening a meeting of his Security Council on Friday, May 2, Putin said “evil people” must be prevented from destabilizing Russia.
Taking into account the enemy’s serious efforts to “destabilize the situation in the Russian Federation,” he said he would focus on ensuring domestic political security.
“We must make every effort not to allow this to happen under any circumstances,” Putin added.
War is coming home
Ukraine could not ask for a greater ally in this strategy than Yevgeny Prigozhin, financier of the Wagner mercenaries.
“The Wagner group wants at least a month to recover, because it’s been a tough job, a tough year … Then, I think, there will be the next headache, most likely this time on the territory of Russia.” He said after incursions and drone strikes against Russia.
As a bonus for Kiev, Prigozhin continued to attack Russia’s military leadership. If the Russian chain of command is “controlled by clowns who treat people like cannon fodder,” he said, “we will not be part of that chain.”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s closest ally, was shocked that war had come to Russia. He replied almost hysterically.
“It is clear what the answer is: they must be destroyed, not just individuals, but we must destroy them as a wasp’s nest. The regime that has formed in Ukraine must be destroyed,” Medvedev said.
He may sound like a Nazi, but his words had sinister echoes of the Holodomor, the 1930s genocide under the Soviet Union in which some three million Ukrainians were deliberately starved to death, middle-class peasants were exterminated and the Ukrainian language banned. By Stalin.
But such statements do not appeal to ordinary Russians.
Belgorod border region
Belgorod’s governor says dozens of bombs have hit border districts inside Russia in recent days.
In a lengthy post on his Telegram channel, Vyacheslav Klatkov said that the bulk of the artillery and mortar fire was against the border districts. In the border town of Shebekino, 12 people were injured in the last 24 hours, while roads, property and vehicles were damaged.
Speaking to the owner of a pro-Russian Telegram channel, a woman said Shebekino was “on fire, there are wars going on”, and “I ran out of town”.
“Our people are very few there. The previous days bombing – almost no response, no (Russian) army. We were left on our own,” said the woman, who did not want to be named. CNN cannot verify its account of events.
But her views may spread. Russia’s response to the campaign on its soil could destabilize its military campaign inside Ukraine — and with it domestic politics.
“Evil gamer. Amateur music trailblazer. Alcohol geek. Problem solver. Coffee advocate. Troublemaker. Infuriatingly humble zombieaholic.”