Russian President Vladimir Putin has convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Friday in connection with the information released by the FSB about a “terrorist” attack by Ukrainian “saboteurs” in the Bryansk region in southwestern Russia. Federation – which refused Kyiv.

In addition, Mr. Putin’s planned trip to the Caucasus was cancelled.

What exactly will be considered in the Council is not yet clear. There has long been a scenario that calls for Russia to formally declare war on Ukraine, allowing the Kremlin to declare further recruitmentto send out invitations to millions of recruits.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked by journalists whether the meeting of the Security Council could mean a change in the nature of what Moscow continues to call a “special military operation”, replied: “I don’t know, I can’t say.”

In Russia, any reference to the “special military operation” launched on February 24, 2022 with the term “war” is considered a criminal offense.

From the meeting, according to some estimates, could arise further restriction of freedoms and rights in Russia or to take steps towards declaring war and transitioning to a centrally controlled economy, that is, to turning it into a war economy.

Putin condemned the terrorist act committed on Thursday in one of the villages of the Bryansk region. It was “another terrorist attack, another crime,” he insisted.

According to Russian authorities, two civilians were killed and a 10- or 11-year-old child was injured when “saboteurs” who they called “Ukrainian nationalists” opened fire on a moving car in a village in the area. Russian news agencies, citing eyewitnesses and officials, report that those responsible for the attack took hostages.

This information cannot be independently verified.

The Ukrainian president dismissed Moscow’s allegations, calling them a “deliberate” and “classic” provocation that he said was intended to justify Russia’s attack on Ukraine more than a year ago.

Medvedev

At the same time, on Thursday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Security Council, again warned NATO against supplying fighter jets to Ukraine and maintaining them in Poland, saying that this would be taken in Moscow as a declaration of war on Russia.

“Anyone who decides to deliver (…) such equipment, weapons,” as well as “foreign mercenaries and military instructors” will then be considered “legitimate military targets,” he explained.

Mr. Medvedev cultivated the image of a moderate, relatively liberal politician when he served as prime minister and then president of Russia. But now he is taking an increasingly hardline stance, observers suggesting he is trying to maintain his position in Russia’s power structure.

President Putin, who blamed yesterday’s attack directly on the Ukrainian leadership in Kyiv, spoke of “neo-Nazi” actions. He repeated the allegations that Ukraine is trying to revise “history” and eradicate the Russian language from its territory. “But, I repeat: they will not succeed, and we will crush them,” he flew in.

While the Russian far right generally supports an invasion ordered by Mr. Putin, some have sided with Kyiv instead. It is not clear if the allegation is true, whether there was an agreement with the Ukrainian military for self-proclaimed “volunteers”.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine, with the General Staff in Kiev announcing that new Russian attacks had been repulsed, notably in Bakhmut, where the Ukrainian side acknowledged that the situation remains “critical.”

Source: RES-IPE