Russian officials say they face a “difficult” situation in the Belgorod region, with multiple reports of an incursion into the border area by Ukrainian forces.
March 19, 2025
russian officials have admitted that Ukrainian forces are mounting a ground incursion into the Belgorod region of southwestern Russia, on the border with Ukraine. While it remains unclear whether or not the Ukrainian Armed Forces have successfully penetrated into the region, there are now reports of casualties and an acknowledgment from the Russian side that the situation is at least “difficult.” Further, there are growing signs that Ukraine might be seeking to try and occupy at least a portion of Russian territory, similar to its previous attempt in the Kursk region, or at the very least establish some sort of buffer between it and Russian forces facing the Sumy region.
“The situation in Krasnoyaruzhsky district remains difficult,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, the head of the Belgorod region, said in a video posted on Telegram. He was referring to the administrative district in the far west of the Belgorod region, which is bordered to the west by Ukraine’s Sumy region.
So far, Krasnoyaruzhsky district appears to have been the focal point of the incursion, or attempted incursion. At least one Russian soldier has been killed in the district, according to the Belgorod regional government.
“As a result of the shelling, a soldier of the Orlan unit was killed and four other people were wounded,” the regional government said via its channel in Telegram, noting that there are additional casualties in other parts of the region.
Faced with these new developments, Vitaly Kutomanov, the head of the Krasnoyaruzhsky district, said that the area had been sealed off, including to local residents. Citizens of the district confirmed in local chats on social media that entry to the territory had been restricted by the authorities.
Kutomanov described this as a temporary measure that was taken “for security reasons.”
When asked about Ukrainian operations directed against the Belgorod region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky framed this as a defensive action:
“We have observed a new buildup of [Russian] troops along the border with the Sumy region. We see what they are trying to do — they aim to strike Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions. This is what we are seeing. But we will not allow them to do this so easily.”
However, there are also suggestions that a Belgorod offensive may have been in the works for some time.
Initial reports of a Ukrainian operation, at that stage still unconfirmed, began to appear yesterday, as we discussed at the time.
The Russian Ministry of Defense and Telegram channels aligned with the Russian military claimed that Ukrainian forces had staged a ground incursion.
“In order to create a negative background around the negotiations between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States on the settlement of the hostilities in Ukraine planned for the evening of March 18, 2025, the Kyiv regime attempted to invade Russian territory at morning (5.50 a.m.) in the western part of Belgorod region near Demidovka and Prilesye to discredit the peace initiatives of U.S. President Donald Trump,” the Russian MoD claimed on Telegram. “The Russian Federation prevented all attempts to cross the state border. The enemy suffered severe losses. The provocation of the Kyiv regime was thwarted.”
“The enemy attempted to invade the territory of the Belgorod region in the areas of the settlements of Grafovka and Prilesye,” the Russian Operation Z Telegram channel stated yesterday, a claim that was also made by the Russian Sever (North) Group of Forces.
Operation Z provided more details of what it said constituted the Ukrainian forces, namely three infantry groups that launched an attack with cover provided by tanks and mine-clearing equipment, including UR-77 Meteorit vehicles. The border area on the Russian side is heavily mined, to prevent such an incursion.
“The infantry rode on quad bikes under the cover of tanks and artillery. Objective control footage proves that the situation is under the complete control of the Northerners,” Operation Z stated yesterday.
A subsequent account from the Russian MoD detailed five Ukrainian attacks in the direction of Demidovka and Prilesye, with the first attack beginning at 5:50 a.m. local time and the last one beginning at 5:30 p.m. local time. This account claimed that the Ukrainian forces employed up to 200 soldiers, five tanks, 16 other types of armored vehicles, three IMR combat engineer vehicles, a UR-77 mine-clearing vehicle, and four light vehicles.
There is more to this article with lots more Twitter links, so if the reader wants to see all of it, please tap on the link below–OFP
https://www.twz.com/land/russia-confirms-ongoing-ukrainian-assault-on-belgorod-region
As the article suggests, I also think that this was planned for some time. I cannot imagine the AFU general staff being so foolish to just send troops into mafia land without proper preparations and planning.
At any rate. I wish the Ukrainians God speed!
Kremlin spokesman Pisskov just said that putin has NOT given orders to stop attacking Ukrainian infrastructure, even though he promised Trump that yesterday.
Is there honor among crooks?
No, there isn’t.