Cross-border Strikes by Ukrainian Soldiers are being Accused by Russian Authorities, who are Threatening Reprisal

Russian officials claimed that on Russian territory:

Ukrainian soldiers had engaged out cross-border strikes

On Thursday, Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian soldiers had engaged out cross-border strikes on Russian territory, charges that a Ukrainian government agency said were meant to incite “anti-Ukrainian feeling.”

Ukraine bombarded the town of Spodaryushino near the Ukrainian border, according to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region.

There were no injuries or residential buildings destroyed, he claimed, but inhabitants of two villages, Bezymeno and Spodaryushino, were evacuated. Gladkov later stated in a second statement that the village of Zhuravlyovka, also in Belgorod area, had been hit by “shelling from the Ukrainian side,” with damage to residential structures and social institutions but no reports of injuries.

The purported strikes come only days after Russia accused Ukraine of attacking a gasoline storage in Belgorod with a helicopter. The strike was not verified nor rejected by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Separately, Russia’s main law enforcement organisation, the Investigative Committee, announced on Thursday that it has launched a probe into a suspected Ukrainian helicopter strike in the Bryansk area.

“Military soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine unlawfully invaded Russian Federation airspace on April 14, 2022, using two combat helicopters armed with heavy offensive weaponry. They carried out at least 6 air attacks on residential houses in Klimovo village, Klimovsky district, Bryansk region, moving at a low altitude “According to the statement.

Klimovo is located in the Chernihiv oblast of Ukraine. According to the Investigative Committee, at least six residential buildings were destroyed, and seven persons, including one child, were injured.