UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 466 - JUNE 2, 2023

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) continues to react disproportionately to limited attacks on Russian territory, likely to convey trust and competence in the MoD's ability to respond to perceived threats.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released a second update on the raid on the Shebekino border (Belgorod region) on June 1, focusing mainly on the timeliness and scope of the Russian response to the raid. The Ministry of Defense claimed that additional elements of the Russian Western Military District (WMD) reinforced the border area within an hour of the raid's start, conducting heavy air, artillery, and flamethrower attacks against the raiding units and their reserves. According to the Ministry of Defense, the attacks were carried out by a total of 135 personnel and 35 vehicles, and were repelled by various Russian defense measures - including small arms fire and mines. Later, the Ministry of Defense celebrated the commander of an unspecified motorized rifle battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Nikitin, for leading the defense efforts and likely preempting attempts to attribute the "victory" achieved by the border defense in Belgorod to Russian Colonel General Alexander Lapin, as the information space had done during the raid on May 23. The fixation of the Russian Ministry of Defense on portraying the Russian armed forces and military leadership as capable defenders of Russia likely reflects internal and broader fears in the information space of the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive and the lingering informational impacts of failures in defending against Ukrainian counterattacks.

The full Russian Offensive Update 465 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

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