Ukraine Launches Distraction by Invading Russia – WWIII Prelude News 23/05/2023

Howard Crane | May 23, 2023

Picture from Rybar news service

Monday, May 22nd, a small number of forces crossed the Russian border at Belgorod. They first captured the border post and quickly proceeded up the highway toward Grayvoron, capturing Kozinka and Glotovo along the way.

This tiny number of troops in American vehicles and with American weaponry were presented in Ukrainian and Western media as Russian seperatists seeking to overthrow President Putin. This is a ridiculous story to anybody without a bias and with half a functioning brain as Russian seperatists wouldn’t be invading their own country via a border with a hostile country. Their vehicles were crudely disguised so that they wouldn’t appear to be manufactured in America.

Two other incursions into Russian territory also occurred to the south, although minor and quickly ended. Rapid response forces were quickly dispatched to Grayvoron to confront the invaders. A KTO was announced in the region (Comprehensive Counterterrorism Operation). Bombings of civilian buildings occurred, resulting in no injuries but power supply was interrupted to an unknown number of civilians. During the initial hours, the Glotovo “House of Culture” or Community Centre was captured. Within the first 12 hours the main forces were fought back to Glotovo. Filtering of traffic and searches of civilian buildings was underway during the KTO as sabateurs were hiding in civilian buildings. At approximately 6:45pm Moscow Time the KTO was declared to be over, after the border crossing and all territories were recaptured.

At least once video emerged on Russian media channels of local Belgorod citizens reading statements asking for the right to bear arms to secure their homes and territory along the border areas with Ukraine. As with most European countries, gun laws and self-defense laws are rather strict, so although it’s not impossible it is unlikely that they would be granted this exception out of public safety concerns.

The official story according to Ukrainian and Western sources is that the “Freedom of Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” were there to liberate “The Peoples’ Republic of Belgorod”, a concept that didn’t exist prior to April of 2022. Although these military groupings may genuinely include ethnic Russians and Russian nationals, there’s no evidence to suggest they have any popular support in Russia itself and the invaders were neither greeted as liberating heroes. Furthermore, actual Russian (or even Belgorodian) nationalists wouldn’t have bombed their own citizens in furtherance of “liberation” and instead would have conserved their firepower for the arriving Russian troops. Pro-Ukrainian Twitter users and other Internet activists have clung onto this narrative despite its absurdity.

This stunt has four different purposes:

1. To weaken Russian morale and embolden Ukrainian morale in response to the loss of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).
2. To further the Western aim to balkanise Russia into multiple states so as to weaken it.
3. To distract public attention from the loss of Bakhmut.
4. To distract Russian forces from some other area where a bigger counteroffensive will take place.