On Wednesday, the governor of Belgorod announced the start of the evacuation of children from two localities in the region which came under heavy artillery and mortar fire.
Russia began this Wednesday the evacuation of children from localities bordering Ukraine intensively bombarded for several days, and where the Kremlin considered the situation “alarming”.
Attacks have been mounting on Russian soil for weeks, culminating in an unprecedented drone assault on Moscow on Tuesday and a spectacular armed incursion last week into the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine.
More than 1000 children will be evacuated
For their part, the Russian forces, which have been leading an offensive against Ukraine since February 2022, this week launched several waves of massive strikes on the capital, Kiev, using missiles and explosive drones.
“Today, a first group of 300 children will be sent to Voronezh”, a city located some 250 km northeast of Belgorod, therefore further from the Ukrainian border, declared Viatcheslav Gladkov, governor of Belgorod.
More than 1,000 other children will be evacuated to other provinces in the coming days, he added. This decision was taken due to the “deteriorating” situation in the region, which suffered some 260 mortar and artillery fire on Tuesday alone, according to Vyacheslav Gladkov.
“The bombardment of civilian targets continues”
One person was killed on Tuesday evening and four people were injured in other “massive” strikes overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, the governor said.
“We are really concerned about this situation. The shelling of civilian targets continues” in Belgorod, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
“We haven’t heard a single word of condemnation from the West,” he said. “The situation is really alarming. Measures are being taken,” he added, without elaborating.
This admission of concern comes at a time when Russia seems unable to stem the attacks which have been multiplying on its soil for weeks, and when Ukraine is in the process of completing preparations for its counter-offensive against Russian forces. .
Source: BFM TV
