Page 44 - RusRPTJul23

UK defence Ministry: Russia likely gained ‘temporary advantage’ in Ukraine’s south with attack helicopters. Russia has likely gained a "temporary advantage" in southern Ukraine, "especially with attack helicopters employing longer-range missiles against ground targets," the U.K. defence Ministry said in its latest update on June 17.
The shelling of border settlements in the Belgorod Region continued in June. Regional authorities announced the relocation of residents from the area of Shebekino, a border town that came under the heaviest shelling. Residents were relocated to other Russian regions, including some relatively close, such as Voronezh, but some thousands of miles away from Belgorod, such as Tomsk. Drone attacks also continued in several regions, including some on an oil refinery in the Smolensk Region. Residents of several regions either saw or heard a fake address by a computer-generated deepfake of President Putin announcing a new wave of military mobilization.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, reportedly agreed to meet representatives of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion—the two paramilitary groups aligned with the Ukrainian government that have been attacking the region—to talk about releasing their captives, but then he reportedly failed to turn up at the meeting. The Governor has been front and center of communications regarding attacks on the region over the past few weeks, mostly because federal authorities do not seem to be interested. Lately, however, Chechnya’s ruler Ramzan Kadyrov and Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin signaled that they were ready to play a bigger role in the defence of border areas.
It also seems that local authorities in Belgorod are using the attacks as a pretext to crack down on figures associated with Yevgeny Savchenko, the region’s former governor (from 1993-2020). Savchenko is currently a member of the Federation Council representing Belgorod, and has preserved his influence through his associates in the region. Last week, the Federal Security Service arrested two influential local businessmen and accused them of operating an organized crime group. The two men were Gennady Bobritsky, Savchenko’s son-in-law who is active in the region’s lucrative food industry, and Vladimir Tebekin, the head of the “Iceberg” business group and charity foundation. Both businessmen are reportedly known as the “night governors” of Belgorod, hinting at their connection to organized crime, and had assets in Shebekino.
Prigozhin accuses Russian defence Ministry of placing mines along Wagner exit routes from Bakhmut. Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin accused "representatives of the Russian defence Ministry" of placing mines along Wagner troops' exit routes from Bakhmut.
44 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com