Tanks Cross Into Russia as Putin’s Army Fights To Defend Belgorod—Report

Russian fighters serving under the Ukrainian Armed Forces have crossed into the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region, bringing “heavy equipment” with them, Ilya Ponomarev, an exiled Russian politician—who says he is the political representative for the group of fighters—told Newsweek.

Ponomarev’s remarks came on the heels of a statement from Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said shelling in the border town of Shebekino overnight injured at least eight people. Gladkov denied “any enemies are on the territory of the Belgorod region” even as reports emerged that tanks operated by “saboteurs” were shelling the town’s checkpoint.

The Freedom of Russia Legion—formed weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, and made up of defectors from the Russian armed forces and Russian and Belarusian volunteers—and the Russian Volunteer Corps published videos on their social media channels claiming to be near or in Shebekino on Thursday morning.

The Legion was declared a terrorist organization by Russia’s Supreme Court in March. The RVC says its members include Russians fighting on Ukraine’s side and against the Kremlin regime.

“They passed the checkpoint quite a while [ago] already. They fight for Shebekino itself,” Ponomarev, who represents the Freedom of Russia Legion and was the only member of the Russian parliament to vote against Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, told Newsweek.

Ponomarev said both groups have “heavy equipment,” and that equipment “should” include tanks.

The Kremlin likely instructed Belgorod Governor Gladkov to deny that the groups had entered Russian territory because “last time it was a disaster for them in the media,” said Ponomarev.

The former member of the Russian parliament was referring to breakthroughs by both the Freedom of Russia Legion and the RVC on May 22. The Legion claimed to have seized the village of Kozinka and said that its units had entered the small town of Graivoron.

Ponomarev said at the time that the Legion had captured four BTR-82A armored personnel carriers—Russia’s main armored vehicle—and that the group aims “to liberate Russia from Putinism.”

A fighter from the RVC said in a video posted Thursday morning that they were “once again fighting on Russian territory.”

“Very soon, the outskirts of Shebekino will appear,” RVC said. “Unfortunately, we cannot ensure the evacuation of civilians from the border areas, because the Army of the Russian Federation is shelling these areas and thus making evacuation difficult.”

“Stay in your homes, don’t worry. Soldiers of the Russian Volunteer Corps are not at war with civilians,” the video concluded.

The Legion said in a video message that they were “near the border of our homeland.”

“Very soon we will advance again into Russian territory to bring freedom, peace, and calm,” the Legion said, adding: “We are going to liberate the whole of Russia—from Belgorod to Vladivostok, in order to have a white-blue-white flag of freedom flying in Moscow.”

The main symbol of the Legion is a blue and white flag, which became a feature in anti-war protests that broke out after February 24, 2022.

According to Russian state-run news outlets, the Belgorod region’s operational headquarters denied that there had been a “breakthrough by the Ukrainian military” near Shebekino. However, they said there was “shelling” and that “sounds of combat” could be heard.

The region’s operational headquarters said on its Telegram channel on Thursday that there is a power outage in the town and that an administration building had been damaged.

Gladkov said in a Telegram video that evacuations were underway.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry via email for comment.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via [email protected].