The Russian governor of Belgorod accused Ukraine of shelling the Shebekinsky urban district over 500 times in the last 24 hours, in the latest indication that Ukraine’s alleged attacks inside Russia proper are not letting up.
“460 units of various ammunition were fired in the Shebekinsky urban district, 26 drops of explosive devices from UAVs were recorded,” the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on social media. “In the city of Shebekino, strikes were mainly directed at residential areas.”
Attacks also targeted the village of Bezlyudovka, Murom, Novaya Tavolzhanka, Gordyushkin, and Surkovo, Gladkov said.
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The repeated attacks inside the Belgorod region, which come just weeks after a pro-Ukraine group stormed Russian borders, have apparently spooked some Kremlin propagandists. Margarita Simonyan, RT editor-in-chief and top Moscow mouthpiece, appeared to suggest this week that the war should end to avoid Ukraine attacking further and further inside Russia, according to a Meduza translation.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive long-range missiles and fighter jets. They will inflict all blows on us, on our territories. Belgorod region, they will go further, Voronezh region is not far there, God forbid, Rostov region, Krasnodar is my native, and so on,” Simonyan said.
Russia should try to hold “referenda in all disputed territories” in Ukraine to end the war, she said, admitting to doubts that Kyiv would actually agree to that.
The growing sense of alarm about attacks inside Russia comes just days after Gladkov ordered residents to evacuate in a desperate measure to “save lives.”
“I ask that the inhabitants of the localities that have been shelled, in particular those in the Chebekino district, follow the instructions of the authorities and temporarily leave their homes,” he said, according to AFP.
Thousands of Russians living on border towns with Ukraine had previously abandoned their homes to take refuge in the main city of Belgorod, according to Reuters. Now that the violence is reaching the city too, residents are reportedly questioning why Russia isn’t able to wage a proper defense inside its territory.
