Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out "terrorist activities" to disrupt and divert attention from the 2024 Presidential elections, which began on Friday, March 15.
Knewz.com has learned that Russia is also seeing its fair share of sporadic domestic protests against the ongoing elections.
The Foreign Ministry of Russia has stated that Ukraine has "intensified its terrorist activities" on the second day of the elections, claiming that Volodymyr Zelensky's forces were trying to actively disrupt the voting process.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also claimed that Ukraine reportedly dropped artillery shells on a voting booth in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
According to the Ministry's statement, Ukraine intends to "demonstrate its activity to its Western handlers and to beg for even more financial assistance and lethal weapons," Reuters reported.
A local election official in the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar reported to the state-run news agency TASS that an explosive device landed near a polling station in a village about 12 miles east of the city. However, the claims have not been verified, according to Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin has also been receiving military reports about attempted attacks by Ukrainian saboteurs in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. Russian media claimed that a few incursion attempts by Ukrainian saboteurs were thwarted by Russian forces in the region.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, said on Saturday, March 16, that several anti-Kremlin militant groups, including the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Siberian Battalion, and the Russian Volunteer Corps, have grown active in the regions, noting that they were fighting "quite well" and were not going to stop any time soon.
Budanov said in a television interview, according to Reuters, "We will try to help them to the best of our ability." Reuters reported that the groups have turned Belgorod and Kursk into active combat zones, with Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov having reported the deaths of a man and a woman in a recent missile attack.
"In the Belgorod region where cross-border attacks from Ukraine have become part of daily life, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported the deaths of a man and a woman in a missile attack, and later in the day, one injury, after he said Russian defenses shot down 15 rockets approaching the regional capital," Reuters wrote.
"Video obtained by Reuters showed fires ablaze and air raid sirens sounding on the empty streets of Belgorod city," the news agency added.
On the other hand, a drone attack carried out by Ukraine caused a significant fire at the Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region around 530 miles southeast of Moscow. Overall, it seems Ukraine has managed to cause quite a ruckus all over Russia during election week.
However, Ukraine is not the only problem Putin is having to deal with as the 2024 Presidential election is underway, as domestic protesters have tried to set fire to voting booths and pour dye into ballot boxes.
Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Electoral Commission of Russia, reported that there had been "20 incidents of people trying to destroy voting sheets by pouring various liquids into ballot boxes, as well as eight cases of attempted arson and a smoke bomb" during the first two days of the election, according to Reuters.
Furthermore, supporters of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny called on the masses to turn out in "rolling protests" against President Putin in each of Russia's 11 time zones at noon on Sunday, March 17.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former President of Russia, labeled the domestic protesters as "traitors," and claimed that "This is direct assistance to those degenerates who are shelling our cities today."
