Russian Region of Belgorod Evacuations, Ongoing Bombings, and Military Conflict Updates

2024-01-06 06:41:12

The authorities of the Russian region of Belgrorod, bordering Ukraine and targeted by intensifying Ukrainian bombings, on Friday offered residents who wish to evacuate and invited them to secure their windows to protect themselves from shrapnel. ‘shell.

At the same time, the Ukrainian army has indicated that it cannot corroborate at this stage Russia’s use of North Korean missiles following accusations to this effect from the United States.

From today we are ready to transport you to Stary Oskol and Gubkin [plus éloignés de la frontière, NDLR], where you will be in very comfortable conditions, in warm and safe rooms. You will stay there as long as necessary, announced the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Telegram.

I see appeals on social networks, where people write: “We are afraid, help us get to safety”. Of course we will! We have already displaced several families, he said, referring to other evacuations in 2023 from smaller localities closer to the border.

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Firefighters put out burning cars following a bombing in Belgorod, Russia.

Photo : Associated Press

This unprecedented measure for a large city in Russia is at odds with the efforts of the Kremlin which has always strived to give the image, since almost two years of invasion, that the conflict is not does not directly affect the daily lives and security of Russians.

This strategy was shattered on December 30 when 25 people lost their lives in Belgorod in a Ukrainian attack, the deadliest civilian death toll on Russian soil since the start of the assault on Moscow on February 24, 2022.

On Friday, Vyacheslav Gladkov also promised to call on other Russian regions for help if his region were to run out of space in reception centers.

A sign of growing concern, earlier in the day, the city of Belgorod had already called for the first time on its residents to secure their windows to protect themselves from possible shards of glass in the face of the increasing number of Ukrainian bombings there.

The day before, the regional authorities had announced to postpone the start of the school year from January 9 to 19 in the city and in some surrounding areas.

Hostilities further increased between Russians and Ukrainians at the turn of the new year, with an increase in particularly deadly strikes.

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Russian rockets are launched once morest Ukraine from Russia’s Belgorod region, seen from Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 16, 2023.

Photo : Associated Press / Vadim Belikov

In retaliation for the unprecedented attack on Belgorod, Vladimir Putin promised to intensify Russian strikes once morest military targets in Ukraine.

During the night from Thursday to Friday, Russia attacked its neighbor with 29 Shahed drones, according to the Ukrainian air force, which assured that it had shot down 21, without mentioning the damage caused by those which fell through the cracks. of the net.

Further south, the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office reported four wounded in a strike in Kherson, an almost daily target of Russian bombings.

In this context, municipal authorities in kyiv urged residents of the capital not to take part in mass events to celebrate Epiphany on Saturday.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported having detected and destroyed a Ukrainian Neptune missile over the Black Sea at midday.

He also claimed to have foiled an attempted terrorist attack by the Kiev regime on the Crimean peninsula during the night from Friday to Saturday, reporting that he had intercepted and destroyed four Ukrainian missiles.

To support its campaign of increased strikes, Russia used several missiles delivered by North Korea on December 30 in the Zaporizhia region (south) and on January 2, the United States accused on Thursday.

On Friday, however, the Ukrainian authorities delayed: At this stage, we have no information on the use of such missiles, assured the spokesperson for the air force, Yuri Ignat.

The United States made a statement to this effect, so experts will study the wreck [de missile] and then we can say whether this is the case or not. I can’t confirm yet, he added.

Russia has made an accelerated rapprochement with North Korea since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

In September 2023, Kim Jong-un visited the Russian Far East where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A relationship that worries Washington, because Moscow might also, in exchange for munitions, strengthen the North Korean regime to face the West and their Asian allies.

Although no military agreement between the two countries under Western sanctions was announced at the time or since, North Korea is already suspected of having supplied the Russian army with more than a million artillery shells intended for operations in Ukraine.

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