Ilya Bogdanov, who worked for the FSB until 2014, is suspected of participating in the “terrorist attack” in the Bryansk region, while being wanted by the Russian security forces, writes The Moscow Times.

As RIA Novosti reports, the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs states that he is wanted “under an article of the Criminal Code”, without specifying the specific article.

He is also in the register of Rosfinmonitoring, in the list of “extremists and terrorists”.

Ilya Bogdanov is a former FSB officer who illegally crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border in 2014 and became a member of Right Sector, a battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, an organization Russia considers extremist.

In 2015, he received Ukrainian citizenship and opened a business in Kyiv. After the invasion began, Bohdanov returned to the front to fight alongside the Ukrainians.

The mass media reported that Bohdanov was recognized on a video from the Bryansk region, which was filmed by members of the Russian volunteer corps, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

The FSB later said it had taken “measures to eliminate infiltrations from the state border,” but residents of the area said they had not seen the special forces and found no one.

Russia condemned “another terrorist attack”

Russian authorities said on Thursday that two villages in the Bryansk region, not far from the border with Ukraine, were attacked by “Ukrainian saboteurs”.

The FSB published the first video recordings from the Bryansk region a day after the “attack by Ukrainian saboteurs”, for which the Russian authorities declared. Independent media say that the images have been edited.

According to official sources cited by TASS, two civilians were killed, and an 11-year-old boy was injured.

Russian media also spread information about the alleged hostage-taking and shootout on a school bus, but then this information was denied even by Russian officials and rejected by the Ukrainian authorities, who noted that in the area of ​​several distance education institutions practice on Mondays.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism after reports of fighting in the Bryansk region (southwestern Russia), which borders Ukraine. It was “another terrorist attack and another crime,” the Russian president said during a video conference, Agerpres notes.

According to him, “Ukrainian saboteurs penetrated the border territory and opened fire on the civilian population. They saw that it was a civilian car, in which civilians were driving, and opened fire.”

Putin was informed about the events in Bryansk by the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB, former KGB).

Who is responsible for the attack?

A group called the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), which describes itself as a Russian volunteer formation that is part of the Ukrainian armed forces, claimed responsibility in a video posted online for Thursday’s attack in Bryansk, Russia, on the border with Ukraine. .

“The Russian volunteer corps entered the territory of the Russian Federation on March 2 to show their compatriots that there is hope that the free Russian people can fight against the regime” of President Vladimir Putin, the group said in a statement. Account in Telegram, reports “Ukrainian Pravda” publication and Unian press agency.

After Russian law enforcement officials reported a fight with a group of Ukrainian saboteurs in Bryansk on Thursday, the group says it does not fire on civilians or unarmed people.

“It is time for ordinary citizens of Russia to understand that they are not slaves,” the group said in a Telegram message, calling on Russians to rise up and fight against Putin’s regime.

RDK is a Russian volunteer unit, formed in August 2022, which fights as part of the armed forces of Ukraine.

What does Kyiv say

The events in the Bryansk region are an internal confrontation between the citizens of Russia, Andriy Yusov, spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said in a comment to the local TV channel “Suspilne”.

“The Russian Federation is an absolutely unstable entity, with a colossal number of internal conflicts: international, social, political. And indeed, there are such things that speak of confrontation in the Russian Federation itself, between the citizens of the Russian Federation,” said the Ukrainian government official, adding that the statement of the Volunteer Corps of the Russian Federation indicates that the Russian people are probably starting to wake up. against Putin’s bloody dictatorship.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian presidency condemned as a “deliberate provocation” by Moscow the information disseminated by the Russian authorities regarding the penetration of some Ukrainian “saboteurs” into the Russian border region, AFP and Agerpres report.

“The story with the Ukrainian sabotage group in Russia is a classic deliberate provocation. Russia wants to scare its population to justify its invasion of Ukraine, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

He suggested that the incident reported by the Russian special services and the local governor in the border region of Bryansk may be connected with the actions of Russian “partisans” who operate with partisan methods.

“The guerrilla movement in Russia is strengthening and becoming more aggressive. Be afraid of your partisans…”, Podolyak also stated.

Investigation in Russia

The Kremlin announced on Friday that the “terrorist attack” would be the subject of an investigation and measures would be taken to prevent similar attacks in the future, Reuters, AFP and TASS reported.

“Of course, there will be an investigation into yesterday’s (Thursday) terrorist attack, measures will be taken to prevent similar events from happening again,” said Kremlin press secretary Dmytro Peskov, TASS quotes. “Conclusions will be made based on the results of the investigation,” Peskov emphasized.

Peskov also reminded that “a special regime of the border strip is in effect” in the Bryansk region, but “additional measures are being taken.”

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