Incursion boosts pressure on Putin

More than 24 hours after a strange incursion near the Russia-ukraine border that President Vladimir Putin labeled a “terrorist attack,” there was no new clarity about the incident, in which authorities said two people were killed.

But that did not prevent government officials and propagandists Friday from seizing on the episode, in the Bryansk region of western Russia, to buttress their own positions, starting with Putin, who, along with state TV commentators, fanned Russians’ fears of terrorist attacks.

Pro-war hard-liners called for revenge and a tougher approach.

Russia’s Federal Security Service released video footage Friday of two vehicles and inert drivers, claiming they were the victims killed by fighters. The video and the deaths could not be independently verified.

Ukraine denied responsibility for the attack, insisting that it was a sign of internal strife in Russia and rising anti-putin sentiment exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine.