Belgorod, Russia – Over 9,000 children are to be evacuated from the city of Belgorod and its surrounding areas following ongoing shelling that authorities have attributed to Ukraine. The situation has escalated, with three individuals, including a child, sustaining injuries in the recent attacks. Power outages have also been reported in parts of the region bordering Ukraine.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov revealed that the violence has resulted in a total of 16 fatalities and 98 injuries this week alone. In response to the escalating conflict, students in Belgorod were instructed to stay home from school, and shopping centers were closed as a precautionary measure.
The evacuation mandate encompasses several villages in Belgorod and various other regions, as announced by Mr. Gladkov during a meeting of the Kremlin’s United Russia party. The first group of 1,200 children is scheduled to be evacuated on Friday.
In the midst of the conflict, Russia’s defense ministry reported intercepting nine Ukrainian shells over Belgorod on Tuesday. Furthermore, the ministry disclosed that it had conducted preemptive strikes near the border of the Belgorod and Kursk regions, targeting groups of alleged Ukrainian “saboteurs.”
As tensions persist, Ukrainian border regions continue to experience Russian attacks, prompting further evacuations. Notably, Kyiv has refrained from commenting on the recent barrage of assaults in Belgorod.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Kyiv of orchestrating the attacks in a bid to disrupt his re-election, which he claimed with a vast majority of votes. Critics have denounced the election as neither free nor fair, given the lack of a viable opponent. Putin has since called upon the Federal Security Service to identify and penalize pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters allegedly involved in deadly assaults on the country’s border regions.
Reports emerged earlier this month of three Ukrainian-based Russian paramilitary groups allegedly infiltrating Russia to engage government forces in combat. Videos released by the Freedom of Russia Legion and Siberian Battalion purported to show their fighters in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. Although the Russian defense ministry claimed to have thwarted the infiltration attempts, the situation remains volatile.