Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to the head of the Office of the President, said that Russian troops are shelling their own cities in order to distract Russians from problems in Russia and to disrupt Western arms supplies to Ukraine. Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

"Why does Russia need constant performances with the shelling of its own cities? To distract Russians from the "refrigerator," to maintain the degree of anti-Ukrainian hysteria and disrupt the supply of Western weapons. But everything is being fixed. The Kremlin awaits a tribunal for crimes not only to the Ukrainian people, but also to its own," Podolyak wrote.

On July 3, a series of "loud noises" were made in Russian Belgorod. The governor reported destroyed houses, deaths and casualties. Subsequently, parts of the Pantsir SAM system, which is in service with the Russian army, were spotted in the city.