As the Ukraine war spills into Russia, a dangerous new front is about to explode

Any spread of the war could have dire consequences for the rest of Europe, and must be avoided at all costs, writes Mary Dejevsky

Whoever was behind this raid is a secondary detail to the fact that it happened (EPA)

At the start of this week, an unknown number of paramilitaries entered the Russian region of Belgorod from Ukraine.

The details are both unclear and contested, but what appears to have happened is essentially this: they took over a border post, attacked a few villages on the Russian side of the border north of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and advanced several dozen kilometres further into Russia before being beaten back by Russian troops. Russia claims they killed 70, but there is no corroboration.

Ukraine says it was a couple of Russian volunteer groups opposed to President Putin, operating independently of the Kyiv government; Russia says it was Ukrainian saboteurs and terrorists operating with the full knowledge and support of Kyiv. But whoever was behind this raid is a secondary detail to the fact that it happened.