Anti-Putin Russians in Ukraine attack Russian border area

 ISW:

...

Ukrainian officials noted that they are aware of the attack but denied any direct involvement by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Spokesperson Andriy Yusov noted that the RDK and LSR are comprised exclusively of Russian citizens and reported that the groups launched an operation in Belgorod Oblast to “liberate these territories...from the so-called Putin regime” and create a “security zone” by the border to protect Ukrainian civilians from further Russian shelling.[8] Advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Mykhailo Podolyak stated that Ukraine is observing and studying the situation but “has no direct relation to it,” noting that armed anti-regime Russian partisan movements are inevitable against the backdrop of the war.[9]

The raid prompted a slate of responses from local and federal Russian officials. Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on May 22 the start of a counterterrorism operation regime in order to “ensure the safety of citizens in Belgorod Oblast.”[10] While some social media users posted footage claiming to show an official evacuation from the Grayvoron region, the Belgorod Oblast Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that it never announced an evacuation and suggested that some individuals may be leaving of their own accord.[11] Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), Federal Security Service (FSB), and Border Service reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on an “attempt by Ukrainian saboteurs to break into Belgorod Oblast.”[12] Peskov also accused Ukraine of staging the incident in order to distract from the situation in Bakhmut.[13] A Russian milblogger additionally claimed that the Russian military leadership decided to deploy the 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade (41st Combined Arms Army, Central Military District) to the Belgorod Oblast border area in order to counter the attack.[14]

The Russian information space responded with a similar degree of panic, factionalism, and incoherency as it tends to display when it experiences significant informational shocks. Some milbloggers fixated on the fact that the RDK and LSR are comprised of mostly Russians and labeled them traitors to Russia, baselessly accusing them of working under the GUR.[15] Several milbloggers additionally speculated that the attack was a purposeful information operation intended to distract from the recent Russian capture of Bakhmut and to instill panic in the Russian information space in advance of a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.[16] Former Russian officer and ardent nationalist milblogger Igor Girkin remarked that he has long warned that such cross-border raids may be part of a wider Ukrainian counteroffensive strategy.[17] Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin took advantage of the incident to accuse the Russian government and its bureaucratic inertia of contributing to the attack and criticized the Russian MoD for being unable to strengthen Russian borders and defend Russia.[18] The first observed line of Russian defensive fortifications notably runs 2km in front of Gora Podol, and the suggestion that RDK forces managed to penetrate the defensive line emphasizes the weakness of such fortifications at least when not fully manned by well-prepared and well-equipped soldiers. While the majority of milbloggers responded with relatively varied concern, anxiety, and anger, the information space did not coalesce around one coherent response, which indicates first and foremost that the attack took Russian commentators by surprise.
...

This appears to be a demonstration of the failure of Russia to guard its borders against a counter-attack by putting the majority of its troops in battles inside Ukraine like that at Bakhmut. It presents an interesting dilemma for the Russian military and Putin.  At a minimum, it is a distraction from their war efforts within Ukraine.  ISW also reports that the Russian troops around Bakhmuts are also exposed to counterattacks.

See, also:

Ukraine's Special Operation Forces left Russians "blind": Russian "Ironia" destroyed

Operators of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine destroyed the modern Russian Ironia ("Irony") optical-electronic surveillance system, installed by the invaders in one of the operational areas.

With the help of this complex, the Russians were collecting information about the actions of the Ukrainian Defence Forces and identifying equipment and personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The unit of SOF of Ukraine used an attack drone to target the Russian complex and destroyed it, depriving Russians of an important intelligence equipment piece.

...

And:

 Russians looking for options to leave occupied Crimea, says Ukrainian military

...

Humeniuk said the invaders are trying to take away from Crimea everything that has connected them all these years.

“First, the traces of their crimes, we’re talking about the occupying authorities,” she said.

“Secondly, the understanding that they will have to answer for all these years, for all their activities. Thirdly, an ideology, because not everyone who is in Crimea today believes that Crimea is annexed and under occupation – they are the ones who need this way out.”
...

The official added that the Kerch Strait Bridge (which connects Crimea to Russia) is a dangerous object and to some extent sacred for Russians, so they are using different options for leaving.

And:

 Land Forces chief says Ukrainian troops may soon encircle Bakhmut

Ukrainian troops keep advancing on the flanks and are approaching a "tactical encirclement" of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's Land Forces, reported on May 21.

The Third Assault Brigade reported an advance in the area of 1,730 by 700 meters near Bakhmut on May 21.

Syrskyi also said that Ukraine’s military controls an “insignificant” part of Bakhmut, but this foothold would be sufficient to enter the ruined city “if the situation changed.”
...

And:

 If You Want to Understand Russian Power, Listen to the People Who Leave It

...

Those Russian spies have told a consistent story to western leaders over the past century. They warned us again and again that the Kremlin is propped up by an evil state-within-a-state, and that Russia will never be a responsible member of the community of nations until its security services are destroyed. While the Soviet Union died over 40 years ago, former KGB officer Vladimir Putin has recreated the oppressive and brutal security system that jailed and killed domestic opposition, and engaged in relentless political warfare against the west. Even if Putin dies tomorrow, the KGB state endures.

...

... The motivation and messages from Russian sources over the years have shown an uncanny similarity and consistency not found in other groups. That is, secret Russian sources almost always make the choice to help the west after concluding that their system is evil and must be destroyed. They usually express love for their culture and homeland, but are committed to smashing the leadership and secret security services that underpin their corrupt, murderous, and oppressive system. From my experience over decades working in the CIA, Russians tend to be the among the most committed sources. They are often their country’s best and brightest who eventually conclude that there is no hope in changing an evil system from the inside.

In recent months, Gleb Karakulov fled while on a business trip in Kazakhstan. Karakulov was a Captain in the Kremlin’s Federal Protection Service. His unit was responsible for protecting and setting up secure communications for Putin wherever he went. He traveled with Putin on over 180 trips abroad. During a recent interview, Karakulov commented that, “Our President has become a war criminal.” He described Putin as isolated and paranoid. He reported that Putin doesn’t use a mobile phone or the internet, insists that those who will be in the same room submit to a two-week quarantine, and avoids airplanes, usually traveling on an armored train. According to Karakulov, “All the information he receives is only from people close to him. That is, he lives in a kind of information vacuum…He is pathologically afraid for his life. He has surrounded himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantine and a lack of any information from the internet.”
...

This is a system to protect the regime from its own people.  If they had real freedom they would overthrow the tyrants.

And:

Russian Deputy Minister Dies Suddenly After Slamming ‘Fascist Invasion’ of Ukraine