Sibir battalion claims to have raised flag in another Russian settlement

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — Sunday, 17 March 2024, 23:09

Photo allegedly taken from the village of Kozivka, Belgorod Oblast. Photo: Siberian battalion

The Russian volunteer group Sibir (Siberian) Battalion has claimed to have raised flags in the village of Kozinka, Belgorod Oblast, Russia, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps.

Source: Sibir (Siberian) Battalion

Quote: "The limited special operation of volunteer forces on the territory of the Russian Federation continues.

The flags of the Sibir (Siberian) Battalion and the RVC [are hoisted] in the village of Kozinka in the Russian Federation".

Details: The battalion posted a photo of the flags against a private sector backdrop, but it is difficult to clarify where the photo was taken.

Previously: On 17 March, Russian volunteer soldiers claimed to have taken control of the village of Gorkovskii in Belgorod Oblast.

Afterwards, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed that a Verba MANPADS crew had shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter near Lukashivka in Sumy Oblast which was flying towards the village of Kozinka in Belgorod Oblast. Ukrainian intelligence denied Russian propagandists’ claims that it was a Black Hawk helicopter.

Background:

On 12 March, soldiers of the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Sibir (Siberian) Battalion reported that they crossed the Russian border. The military volunteer groups posted an address online, and a video appeared on Telegram channels purporting to show military personnel firing their weapons on the Russian territory. Military volunteers from the Freedom of Russia Legion claimed they had taken full control of the Russian town of Tyotkino in Kursk Oblast.
The founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) said that fighters of the RVC will make efforts to ensure that no sham elections of Russian president Vladimir Putin take place on the territories bordering Ukraine.
On the morning of 14 March, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod Oblast, said that Russian air defence assets and personnel had shot down eight aerial targets over the city of Belgorod and the surrounding district. At the same time, Russian Telegram news outlets reported an alleged attempt by a "Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group" to enter the territory of the oblast, but Russian volunteer soldiers who are fighting on Ukraine's side said that it was them attacking military targets in Russia. They explained that they were forced to open fire because Russia continues to hit peaceful settlements in Ukraine.
Later, the Freedom of Russia Legion posted a video featuring burning buildings and reported that they had destroyed two Russian army ammunition storage points in the village of Tyotkino, in Russia's Kursk Oblast. At the same time, the governor of Kursk Oblast said that "Ukrainian terrorists" were supposedly breaking into the oblast, while Rosgvardia claimed that it was "repelling an attack by Ukrainian saboteurs".
The Russian Volunteer Corps, which is conducting a military operation in Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, has shown a new batch of Russian prisoners of war and is ready to exchange them at a meeting with the oblast’s governor.