After reports of fighting on Russian territory near the Ukrainian border, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has officially convened the National Security Council for this Friday. “For Friday, the President is planning the Security Council,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, according to the Interfax agency. According to Peskov’s statements, Putin also canceled a planned trip to the Caucasus region of Stavropol at short notice in connection with the recent incidents.
The domestic secret service FSB had previously spoken of heavy fighting with “Ukrainian nationalists” in the Russian region of Bryansk. “We are talking about an attack by terrorists. Measures are now being taken to destroy them,” said Peskov.
The Russian information could not initially be checked independently. Ukrainian observers warned against targeted disinformation. The spokesman for the Ukrainian border guard service, Andriy Demchenko, also spoke of “information provocation by the aggressor” in an interview with the Internet portal Ukrajinska Pravda. The situation on the border with Russia is under control.
Is Putin officially declaring war on Ukraine?
When asked by journalists whether at the Security Council meeting the war against Ukraine, which Moscow continues to refer to as “special military operations,” might be upgraded, Peskov said only: “I don’t know, I can’t say that yet.” Since the invasion of the neighboring country ordered by Putin more than a year ago, there has been repeated speculation as to whether Russia might officially declare war on Ukraine.
Since shortly after the war began, Russia has repeatedly complained about shelling on its own territory. However, the number of casualties and damage are disproportionate to the consequences of the war in the attacked Ukraine.
