russian authorities are not coordinating a response to raids in Belgorod Oblast – ISW

russian authorities are uncertain about how to respond to raids in russia's Belgorod Oblast.

This is stated by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

"The dissonant russian responses to and reporting about the limited raid in Belgorod Oblast continue to suggest that the russian leadership has not yet decided how to react to these limited cross-border raids," the report says.

Let's recall that the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDC) and the Freedom of Russia Legion (LSR) conducted another limited raid into Belgorod Oblast on 4 June and are reportedly continuing to operate in a russian border settlement.

The governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed that fighting is taking place in Novaya Tavolzhanka, even though the russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed that units of the Western Military District and the russian Border Guard Service had struck a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group near the settlement, forcing them to withdraw.

"The contradictory information from official russian sources about the situation in Belgorod Oblast and the obvious personal decision of Gladkov to respond to the RDC and LSR suggest that the MoD and Gladkov are not coordinating their response to the raids," the report says. 

ISW analysts have previously noted that russian officials have inadequately responded to raids on russian territory, trying to allay growing concern within the country about the war against Ukraine, while also supporting current information operations in attempts to portray their invasion as existential for russia.

"russian responses have primarily centered on informational effects, and there is no indication that the russian leadership has set a wider policy for preventing further limited raids into russian border oblasts," the ISW emphasises. 

Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the russian authorities are organising an evacuation in response to these actions, although Gladkov asserted that 4,000 residents of the vulnerable area are currently in temporary accommodation due to the evacuation.