Pro-Kyiv groups have made no ‘serious attempt’ to occupy Belgorod, says ISW

Elements of the all-Russian pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion reportedly conducted another raid into the Belgorod region on Thursday.

“Geolocated footage shows alleged Freedom of Russia Legion personnel operating near Novaya Tavolzhanka, 3.5km from the Russian-Ukrainian border Shebekino, 7km from the border,” said the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

However, the ISW states also said that the Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion have not made a serious attempt to occupy territory in the Belgorod region, neither on Thursday nor during the raid on 22 May, despite claims by the group that they wished to do so.

Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to strengthen defences in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine.

According to the UK intelligence update, Moscow has begun deploying a full range of military firepower on its own territory, including attack helicopters, and the thermobaric rocket launcher.

“The Kremlin is trying to use these limited raids to support ongoing information operations that seek to portray the war in Ukraine as existential and garner domestic support for a protracted war,” says the ISW.

Watch Sasha Vakulina’s full video report in the player above