US Department of State reacts to events in Belgorod Oblast

The US Department of State has reacted to the events in Belgorod Oblast, Russia. They said that the United States prohibited Ukraine from using its weapons on Russian territory while recalling that Russia started the war.

Source: Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the US Department of State, during a briefing

Quote: "We have made very clear to the Ukrainians that we don’t enable or encourage attacks outside Ukrainians’ borders, but I do think it’s important to take a step back and remind everyone, and remind the world, that it – of course it is Russia that launched this war.  

It’s Russia that continues to launch attacks on civilians in Ukraine. It’s Russia that’s targeted schools and hospitals and civilian infrastructure. So, it is up to Ukraine to decide how they want to conduct their military operations, but it is Russia that has been the aggressor in this war."

Background:

• On 22 May, the Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion announced that they had crossed the border and were "liberating" the settlements of Belgorod Oblast from the current Russian authorities: they started with the villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol. These military formations also stated they were seeking the "liberation" of all of Russia.
• Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod Oblast, claimed that a "reconnaissance and sabotage group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" entered the territory of the Grayvoron district.
• The Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, says Vladimir Putin was informed of the breach of the Russian border in Belgorod Oblast. Peskov said that work was underway to stamp out "Ukrainian saboteurs" from the territory of Russia and destroy them.
• Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, has described the events taking place in Russia's Belgorod Oblast on 22 May as the creation of a "security zone" to protect Ukrainian citizens. Yusov stressed that the operation was conducted exclusively by Russian citizens.
• Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, stressed that Ukraine was not directly related to the events that transpired in Russia's Belgorod Oblast on 22 May.
• The Russian media have reported a strike on the FSB [Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation – ed.] office in Belgorod, Russia, with explosives allegedly dropped on the building.

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