On 22 May 2023, armed groups from Ukraine carried out a cross-border raid into Belgorod Oblast, Russia. Two Russian rebel groups allied with and based in Ukraine—the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC)—claimed to have taken control of several border settlements, and clashed with Russian government forces. The Polish Volunteer Corps participated in the raid. Russian authorities said the attacks were conducted by a Ukrainian "sabotage group", and imposed counter-terrorism measures in the region. It was the largest cross-border attack during the war since the initial beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
On 1 June, another incursion began near the town of Shebekino, with the RVC announcing that the promised "second phase" of the fighting had begun. This time, the Belarusian volunteer Terror Battalion participated in the raid. A spokesman for the Freedom of Russia Legion said their goals were to draw Russian troops away from other parts of the front, and to encourage rebellion against the Russian government. On 12 March 2024, Russian rebels launched another major cross-border operation in Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts.
Background
Several attacks in Western Russia, primarily in Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts, were reported since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. Russia accused Ukraine of being responsible for these attacks. According to The Moscow Times, in June 2022, "Ukraine [had] not claimed responsibility for the attacks ... while not formally denying being behind them."
Following an attack against Belgorod in April 2022, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, joked that these events were related to the establishment of a "Belgorod People's Republic". The information warfare spawned satirical calls to "hold independence referendum in Belgorod region". Calls and text messages from unknown numbers and telegram chats were sent to residents of the region: "They call us BNR, that is, the Belgorod People's Republic, in their Ukrainian chats. By analogy with the LNR and DNR", a local resident said in July 2022.
In March 2023, the Russian Volunteer Corps, a Russian nationalist group fighting against the Russian government, claimed responsibility for a brief incursion into neighboring Bryansk Oblast.
Late on 21 May 2023, Belgorod Oblast officials claimed that a quadcopter had dropped explosives on a government building in the village of Golovchino.
First raid
22 May
On 22 May 2023, footage emerged on Russian Telegram channels showing an apparent military raid on the Russian border checkpoint in the Grayvoronsky District of Belgorod Oblast. Later that day, Belgorod Oblast governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced via Telegram that a "Ukrainian military sabotage and reconnaissance group" had entered the district, saying that Russian forces were "taking the necessary steps to eliminate the enemy". He said there were explosions and drone attacks in the district. The deputy head of Grayvoron's municipal administration and two emergency workers were reportedly wounded in an attack that damaged the town hall.
The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the incursion, announcing that the two groups working together had taken control of the villages of Kozinka, Gora-Podol, and Glotovo and that forward units had reached the district capital of Grayvoron. They claimed to be creating a "demilitarized zone". The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that Kozinka had indeed been captured by the paramilitaries, but that it was unclear if the other settlements were as well. In this incursion participated the Polish Volunteer Corps, a Polish volunteer military unit created in mid-February of the same year. They would only confirm this on 4 June after posting images on Twitter proving their involvement; up until that point, there had been reports from Russian soldiers that some of the saboteurs spoke Polish.
While the incursion was taking place, the Freedom of Russia Legion posted videos showing the white-blue-white Russian opposition flag being lifted with balloons over the center of Moscow. The Legion uses this flag. The Russian Volunteer Corps posted photos of their fighters in front of road signs for the settlement of Bezlyudovka in Belgorod Oblast, as well as Lyubimovka and Churovichi in neighboring Bryansk Oblast.
On the evening of 22 May, Gladkov announced that counter-terrorism restrictions were being introduced in Belgorod Oblast. This restricts civilian freedom of movement and communications, requires civilians to show proof of identity, and suspends industries that use hazardous materials, among other restrictions. Gladkov also said that the Belgorod regional government officials, together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, was going from house to house in border villages to evacuate civilians, and that "most of the population" had been evacuated.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russian forces began an emergency evacuation of nuclear ammunition stockpiles from the nearby Belgorod-22 facility. The Belgorod-22 site is Military Unit Number 25624 of the 12th Chief Directorate.
Nuclear security expert at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Pavel Podvig, was skeptical about the announcement of the movement of nuclear weapons, since such a maneuver could not go unnoticed by Western intelligence agencies. Despite the current status of the military unit to which the repository belongs, it would be impossible to establish the presence of nuclear weapons in it, Podvig said. The Rybar Telegram channel stated that nuclear weapons were not stored at this facility long before the raid.
23 May
According to video reports, the Federal Security Service (FSB) office in the city of Belgorod was struck in a drone attack, nearly 80 km (50 mi) away from the "combat zone". The BBC was able to establish that an FSB building was hit, but it was unclear what caused the damage. Gladkov stated that one civilian had been killed in the fighting and that a drone had been shot down.
In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have defeated the insurgents and pushed them back to the Ukrainian border. The counter-terrorism restrictions in Belgorod Oblast were lifted that afternoon, though Gladkov called on civilians not to return to border villages yet. The ISW assessed that Russian government forces had likely pushed the anti-government forces back to at least Kozinka, if not over the state border. The Freedom of Russia Legion posted footage showing ongoing fighting.
Throughout the day appeared reports of fighting taking place in or near several other localities in Belgorod Oblast, more precisely Bogun-Gorodok, Gorkovsky, the hamlet of Lozovaya Rudka, Shchetinovka and Tsapovka. Later, during the night of the same day, the Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko posted a picture on his Telegram channel showing five allegedly Russian opposition soldiers in front of the entrance sign of Gogolevka, a village in Kursk Oblast. It is unknown to which military unit these soldiers belonged and no official information was released about the incident.
Aftermath
On 24 May, governor Gladkov announced that anti-government forces were no longer in the region. He also said that the following districts had been attacked during the incursion: Borisovsky, Volokonovsky, Grayvoronsky, Krasnoyaruzhsky, Shebekinsky, and Yakovlevsky. He later announced that Russian authorities had created seven territorial defense battalions for the defense of the Belgorod region in the future.
The leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Denis Kapustin (also Denis Nikitin or "White Rex"), said the group had left Russian territory after 24 hours, and that they were satisfied with the raid at a press conference given on Ukrainian territory.
On 25 May, soldiers of the Russian Volunteer Corps undertook a short raid into Glotovo again.
Second raid
1–3 June
On 1 June, the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps said they had begun another raid into Belgorod Oblast. The Russian Defense Ministry said there were three attempted raids along the border in the Shebekinsky District by up to 70 "Ukrainian terrorists" with tanks and armored vehicles. It said that all were repelled and that at least 50 militants were killed, while four of their armored vehicles and a Grad multiple rocket launcher were destroyed. Belgorod governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said Ukraine's armed forces had shelled Shebekino with Grad rockets, damaging an administrative building. He said at least nine civilians had been wounded by shelling from Ukraine, and two others by a drone blast in Belgorod city. The RVC claimed that it attacked the Interior Ministry in Shebekino with Grad rockets.
The Belarusian volunteer Terror Battalion participated in this second raid. This is shown by some images of members of the battalion carrying MANPADS published with the comment "Briefly about the emergency landings of military aircraft on the BPR [Belgorod People's Republic]". A video posted on Telegram showed the advance of Belarusian volunteers towards the territory of Belgorod Oblast. Previously, Radyyon Batulin, one of the commanders of the battalion, commented that "nobody canceled visa-free travel for Belarusians to Russia". The Terror Battalion was initially formed as a battalion part of the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment which ended up leaving the regiment and later joined the Belarusian Volunteer Corps.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, the FRL and RVC reached Shebekino and Novaya Tavolzhanka on 1 June. The ISW described the attacks as raids, defining them as "small scale assault operations involving swift entry into hostile territory to secure information, disrupt hostile forces, or destroy installations". Governor Gladkov said residents were being evacuated from the settlements and that all "Ukrainian" forces had withdrawn from Belgorod Oblast by the end of the day.
On 3 June, two civilians driving a car near Maslova Pristan were killed in an artillery strike. Governor Gladkov blamed Ukrainian forces, but the FRL blamed the Russian Army.
4 June – 15 June
On 4 June, the FRL posted a video online calling for Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov to meet them "to discuss the current situation in the region and the future of Russia," in exchange for releasing two Russian soldiers they had captured. Gladkov said he would be willing to meet the group in Shebekino. The FRL leadership arrived at the checkpoint outside Shebekino at the agreed time, but Gladkov did not, claiming that the POWs had been executed. In response, the FRL said it would send the POWs to Kyiv.
On 5 June, the pro-Ukrainian forces reported that they killed Russian colonel Andrey Stesev in battle on the territory of Belgorod Oblast. They accused Stesev and his subordinates of killing civilians in the Chechen wars, the Yugoslav Wars, the War in Abkhazia, and in Ukraine, and claimed that he had "systematically terrorized" the population of Belgorod Oblast. Ukrainian military intelligence also announced that Stesev had died in the early hours of 5 June, but according to Meduza, there has not been any independent confirmation of the information.
On 6 June, Gladkov claimed that the anti-government forces were no longer in the region, but the RVC said on 8 June that it was still in control of Novaya Tavolzhanka.
By 15 June, Russian government soldiers claimed to have re-entered Novaya Tavolzhanka.
Sporadic incursions (June–December 2023)
On 17 June, there were still reports of anti-government forces operating in the Belgorod oblast, shelling pro-government positions. The number of evacuations of civilians from border regions was estimated at 6,500, with most of the civilians from Shebekino having left.
On 19 June, Russian sources claimed that 7 civilians where wounded due to anti-government shelling in Belgorod. And on 22 June, the Russian ministry of Defense claimed to have used thermobaric weapons against partisans in the Oblast. During the Wagner Group rebellion on 24 June, it was noted by the Atlantic Council that partisans were still operating in Belgorod.
In mid-July, the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence published a video showing Chechen volunteers ambushing a Russian military truck at Sereda, Belgorod, killing two Russian soldiers. They were members of the Separate Special Purpose Battalion. In August, the Russian government sanctioned the creation of self-defense militias in Belgorod and Kursk to assist in the border defense.
On 28 September, the Freedom of Russia Legion claimed that it had begun another raid into Belgorod Oblast. The Russian Astra Telegram channel also stated that Russian troops were battling pro-Ukrainian forces at the border.