Polish special forces confirm involvement in raid on Russian border region

The Polish Volunteer Corps confirmed on Sunday morning that it was involved in the military raid on the Russian border region of Belgorod. The corresponding message on Telegram has since been deleted.

In a post on Telegram accompanied by pictures and videos, the Polish Volunteer Corps (Polski Korpus Ochotniczy) has confirmed its participation in the fighting of recent weeks in the Russian border region of Belgorod. Official bodies in Poland have not yet confirmed the involvement. Russian soldiers had previously reported that they had heard some of the fighters communicating in Polish.

The message on Telegram has since been deleted. It originally read:

"Everyone asks us the same question: did we participate in the operation on the territory of the Belgorod region? The answer is clear: Of course! The Polish Volunteer Corps, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps, took part in the combat task. We are united not only by the bonds of brotherhood in arms, but also by personal friendships and camaraderie. Information about our involvement in the operation was deliberately published with a long delay for security reasons."

It was not known in which missions the group has fought so far. The unit's Telegram channel is full of videos allegedly from Ukraine, for example, from near Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).

The deleted post was accompanied by a video showing men in military uniform checking an armored personnel carrier in a hall. The hall could be the Russian border station, which was occupied for several hours by those involved in the invasion of the Russian border region. In Polish, the question can be heard whether there is "something interesting" in the vehicle, explicitly asking for weapons. In a second video recorded in the same hall, the fighters speak in Polish and Russian before apparently coming under fire just moments later.

Two paramilitary Russian volunteer battalions had previously claimed responsibility for the military action on Russian territory. The groups called "Russian Volunteer Corps" and "Legion of Freedom of Russia" are made up of far-right Russians fighting on the side of Ukraine.

In the action on May 22 and 23, well-armed and militarily organized men in Ukrainian uniforms raided a Russian border and customs station on the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Belgorod region and advanced further into Russian territory, temporarily occupying two villages and shelling other settlements, including a district town, with artillery. At least one Russian border guard, as well as a civilian in one of the villages, in whose house the attackers located a Russian uniform, were killed. In addition, a woman died of heart failure during the ordered evacuation of the border settlements, at least 13 civilians were injured.

After about a day, the invaders were pushed back into Ukrainian territory, several of them were killed in the fighting.

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