The Kremlin appears to be preparing the ground for a false flag attack in Russia’s Belgorod region, likely in an attempt to win back popular support for the war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment.
Kremlin propagandists began to suggest that Ukrainian forces wanted to invade Belgorod region, while other Russian sources indicated that Russian forces needed to regain control over the city of Kupyansk in Kharkiv region to minimize the threat of a Ukrainian attack.
These statements have long circulated among the community of military bloggers (milbloggers), who criticized the Russian military command for leaving buffer positions in Vovchansk, in the northeast of Kharkiv Oblast, after Russia’s withdrawal from the region in September.
On Tuesday, Russian mil-bloggers also stepped up calls for Russia to return the liberated territories in the Kharkiv region, saying that such preventive measures will not allow the Ukrainians to conduct assault operations in the Kupyansk and Vovchansk directions.
The Governor of the Belgorod Region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, also released footage of the fortifications of the Zasichna Line on the border between Ukraine and the Belgorod Region.
The financier of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated that Wagner is building the Zasichna Line after changing its name to Wagner, because “many people from [Rusia] they don’t like the activities of Wagner’s private military company.” Private military companies are illegal in Russia.
Nonsensical speculation about a phantasmagoric Ukrainian invasion
Russia’s claims about Ukraine’s imminent attack on the Belgorod region are absurd and have the sole purpose of scaring the general public into supporting the war.
Ukraine has neither a strategic interest in invading Russia nor the ability to do so on such a scale. After the victory in the north of the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian troops continue to liberate the occupied settlements in the west of the Luhansk region.
Support for Russia’s absurd invasion of Ukraine is waning among Russians in border regions and the rest of the country as a result of mobilization and military setbacks.
Sources in Russian opposition publications reported that since the end of October, relatives of those mobilized have provoked protests in 15 regions of Russia, with the most visible in the regions bordering Ukraine.
The Russian opposition publication Meduza, citing two anonymous sources close to the Kremlin, reported that the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation conducted an internal survey in various regions, during which many citizens expressed apathy towards the war.
ISW notes that while it cannot independently verify the Meduza account, new calls for demobilization among relatives of conscripts suggest that Russian propaganda is ineffective in countering the real societal consequences of the war.
This nonsensical speculation about a phantasmagoric Ukrainian invasion of Russia may also be part of the Kremlin’s efforts to appease the pro-war Russian nationalist community.
Russian bloggers have repeatedly accused the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of failing to protect Russia, including the recently “annexed” territories. However, it is unlikely that the Kremlin will be able to invade the Kharkiv region again, as these nationalist figures demand.
- On the same topic: PHOTO Russians began to build a line of defense in Belgorod, on their territory
(article photo: © Ukrphoto | Dreamstime.com)
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