Reports suggest the security situation in Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk regions, has been deteriorating since March 12, when Russian anti-Kremlin militias broke into the region from Ukraine, resulting in clashes with the Russian military.
Ukraine has increasingly used its long-range firepower to hit oil refineries and depots deep inside Russia and has sought to unsettle the Russian border regions, putting political pressure on President Putin.
