Key Points
- Vladimir Putin claims a Ukrainian sabotage group conducted a "terrorist attack" in Russia's southern Bryansk region.
- The armed men called on Russians to take up arms and rise up against the authorities.
- At a G20 meeting, the US Secretary of State urged Russia's foreign minister to rejoin the New START nuclear treaty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday claimed his nation had been hit by a "terrorist attack" in the southern Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, and vowed to crush what he said was a Ukrainian sabotage group that had fired at civilians.
Ukraine accused Russia of staging a false "provocation" but also appeared to imply some form of operation had indeed been carried out by Russian anti-government partisans.
Mr Putin, in a televised address, accused the group of opening fire on civilians in a car, including children.
Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said the attack had killed two people and wounded an 11-year-old boy.
The FSB security service said the situation was under the control of law enforcement agencies.
In two videos circulating online, armed men calling themselves the "Russian Volunteer Corps" said they had crossed the border to fight what they referred to as "the bloody Putinite and Kremlin regime".
Describing themselves as Russian "liberators," the armed men called on Russians to take up arms and rise up against the authorities and said they did not open fire on civilians.
Reuters could not immediately verify the videos' authenticity.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter: "The story about (a) Ukrainian sabotage group in RF (Russian Federation) is a classic deliberate provocation."
He said Russia "wants to scare its people to justify the attack on another country & the growing poverty after the year of war".
G20 dominated by Ukraine tensions
The incident came as the United States and its European allies sparred with Russia over the war in Ukraine at a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi, with the rival sides each accusing the other of destabilising the world.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a brief encounter on the sidelines of the meeting during which Mr Blinken urged Russia to reverse its decision on , a senior US official said.
Mr Blinken also told Mr Lavrov that the US was prepared to support Ukraine to defend itself for as long as it takes, the official said.
The two spoke for less than 10 minutes, they said.
The US and its European allies urged the G20 to keep up pressure on Russia to end the conflict, now in its second year.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (top C) walks past Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (lower) during the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi on 2 March, 2023. Source: Getty / Olivier Douliery
"We must continue to call on Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for the sake of international peace and economic stability," Mr Blinken said in remarks released after his address at the closed-door meeting.
"Unfortunately, this meeting has again been marred by Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine," Mr Blinken said.
"Unfortunately, one G20 member prevents all the other 19 from focusing all their efforts on these issues the G20 was created for," German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told the meeting, according to the German delegation.
"I ask you, Mr Lavrov, to return to full implementation of New START (nuclear arms treaty) and to resume dialogue with the US. Because, as China rightly pointed out in its 12-points-plan, the threat of nuclear weapons should be opposed," she said.
Mr Putin last week announced Russia's decision to suspend participation in the latest START treaty after accusing the US of being directly involved in attempts to strike its strategic air bases.
