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Putin calls crisis talks over ‘Ukrainian terror attack at border’… after stunt by anti-Vlad RUSSIANS waving flags
VLADIMIR Putin accused Ukraine of launching a terror attack despite footage showing it was a stunt by anti-Kremlin Russians.
Moscow bizarrely claimed Ukrainian saboteurs had stormed over the border today and taken hostages in the Bryansk region.
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Putin has called for an emergency meeting with his security council after making baseless allegations that Ukrainian fighters had fired at civilians on Russian territory close to the border.
The tyrant said in a televised address: "Our soldiers and officers protect against neo-Nazis and terrorists, those who today committed another terrorist attack, penetrated the border area and opened fire on civilians."
Moscow earlier made unfounded claims group of up to 50 Ukrainian fighters were inside Russia, with Kyiv armoured vehicles at the frontier.
But footage emerged appearing to show combat-clad anti-Putin fighters waving the flag of the Russian Volunteer Corps allegedly inside Russia.
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The men, understood to be well-known Russian nationalists, claimed they were there at the Lyuban medical and obstetric center in the village of Lubechanye.
They said on Telegram reports of an attack by Ukrainians was "all a lie by Kremlin propagandists".
One said in the video: "We’re not at war with civilians. We don’t kill those who are unarmed
"The time has come for ordinary Russian citizens to understand they are not slaves. Rise up and fight."
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Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate spokesman Andriy Yusov claimed the situation is a sign of "a continuation of the transformation of Russia and liberation from Putin's dictatorship", reports Ukrainian outlet
Russia's FSB security service had claimed to Russian news agencies that its forces and the army tried to liquidate what it described as "an armed group of Ukrainian nationalists".
Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz first made the claims of an incursion, alleging that the Ukrainians had shot and killed one person.
He said on Telegram: "Today, a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group penetrated the Klimovsky district in the village of Lubechanye.
"Saboteurs fired on a moving car. As a result of the attack, one resident was killed and a ten-year-old child was wounded."
He said Ukrainian armed forces had launched a drone attack and fired artillery shells at other areas near the border.
Russia's state TASS news agency said the Ukrainians had infiltrated two villages, taking local residents hostage in one of them.
The RIA news agency said several people had been taken hostage in a store in the village of Lubechanye, less than one kilometre from Russia's border with Ukraine.
But there has been no evidence of a Ukrainian incursion.
Ukrainian officials denied any responsibility warning that Moscow could use the claims to justify stepping up its own assaults in the ongoing war.
A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rubbished claims of a sabotage attack by Ukrainian forces saying reports are a "deliberate provocation".
He suggested the troops involved in the alleged incursion could be Russian “partisans”.
Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter: "The story of Ukrainian DRGs [sabotage group] in Russia is a classic provocation.
“Absolutely conscious.
“Russia wants to frighten its own [people] in order to at least somehow justify the attack on another country and growing poverty.
“Meanwhile, the partisan movement in Russia is becoming stronger and aggressive.
“Fear your partisans."
Russia has accused Ukrainian saboteurs of infiltrating Bryansk before.
In December, the FSB security service said a four-person Ukrainian "sabotage group" had been "liquidated" while trying to enter Bryansk.
Fears of a false flag operation come amid claims Putin could be preparing to unleash a new offensive in Ukraine.
Ukrainian defenders are bracing for an assault that could include 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armoured vehicles, 400 fighter jets and 300 helicopters incoming from Russia.
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Putin is desperate to achieve something after a bruising first year which has seen his forces thrown back.
Ukraine fears the next few weeks will be crucial for the conflict as they continue to call for weapons from the West.
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