On the morning of March 12, Russian oppositionist Ilya Ponomarev posted on Facebook that the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), the Sibir Battalion, and the Freedom of Russia Legion had entered Kursk and Belgorod regions "as part of a joint operation." "The border town of Lozovaya Rudka in the Belgorod region is completely under the control of the liberation forces. A small arms battle is currently underway in Tyotkino, Kursk region".
Legion fighter Aleksey Baranovsky, in the evening of 12.03: "The village of Tyotkino, Kursk region, remains under the control of the Freedom of Russia Legion, volunteers are not going to leave the village".
At the same time, on the evening of 12.03, the governor of Belgorod region Gladkov: "There are no Ukrainian troops on the territory of Belgorod region settlements".
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Actually, it does not matter how long Tyotkino (with a population of 3,300) and Lozovya Rudka (a village of 45 people) will be held. What is important is the fact of a painful blow to the planned process of "Putin's election."
Of course, this will not affect the results, which have probably been prepared and signed off by Pamfilova's Central Election Commission for a long time (probably a high turnout of over 70% - this is why the official voting was extended for a whole week, why local authorities invited people to officially come to polling stations several times because there are treats, movies and entertainment; and Putin's overall result is around 82-83%). But it will demonstrate to the elites, if not the weakness of the regime, then not the complete control of the processes by Putin.
It is precisely for this effect that Putin insisted on ensuring a high turnout and sufficiently high real results so that he could show off in private meetings. So that he could show the elites that he still has high popular support, controls the country, and needs the elites' support less than they need his.
Obviously, the demonstrative "liberation of Russian territories from dictatorship by Russian forces" was intended to take place at the time of Putin's election. Just to achieve maximum discredit for the regime. Not to the Russians (although the effect of "we liberated Nazi Ukraine - now there will be a war on our territory for our lands" will be there). But to the Russian elites.
They have been shown the possibility of undermining the regime because you see, it does not control everything, it is not able to counteract even these small military operations right on its territory. So it's not necessary to stick with Putin - he is not omnipotent.
Let's see what kind of undercover moves and series of betrayals this will result in. They don't have a second Prigozhin, but they can find leaders if they want.
About the author. Oleksiy Holobutskyi, political scientist
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.