In what appeared to be one of the biggest incursions from Ukraine since the outbreak of the war, two purported anti-Kremlin armed groups employing Russians based abroad said they were responsible for the attack in Russia’s Belgorod region. Alexander Khrebet, a Kyiv Independent journalist, joined us to shed some more light on the matter.

As our guest pointed out, the aim of the military groups involved in the Belgorod events was to shift the Kremlin’s focus from other directions, such as Bakhmut and Luhansk region.

He also assessed that testing Russian defenses before the anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive might also have been a goal.

Learn more about the recent developments in Belgorod by watching the full interview above.