Deadly Ukrainian shelling in Russia's Belgorod rages; thousands relocated

Belgorod governor has said shelling and strikes by Ukrainian forces continued overnight on Sunday after two were killed and thousands of Russians, including children, were displaced.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram channel that more than 4,000 people were relocated to temporary accommodation in the border region, which borders Ukraine to its south and west.

“Overnight, it was quite restless,” Gladkov said, adding that the Shebekino and Volokonovsky districts suffered “lots” of damage from shelling during the night.

Gladkov said he has escorted about 600 children from the region’s Shebekino and Graivoron districts to Yaroslavl and Kaluga.

“The children of Shebekino are very worried about their hometown,” Gladkov said. “I started leaving; they stopped me and with anxiety started asking questions.”

Shebekino, a town with a population of about 40,000 on the border and other places in the southern Russian region, has repeatedly come under attacks over the past week, forcing at least 2,500 people to relocate so far, Gladkov has said earlier.

Also on Friday, two people were killed and two injured overnight in the village of Sobolevka as Ukraine continued with shelling and striking the region during the day, including on Shebekino, Gladkov said.

Russia says it repels fresh Belgorod border incursion by 'Ukrainian terrorist formations'

Moscow says it has repulsed by an attempt by Ukrainian forces to attack the southwestern Belgorod region.

On Thursday, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Moscow has repelled an attempt by the “Ukrainian terrorist formations” to break into the country’s southwestern borders.

The ministry of defense cited at least three attempts to cross the country and said that 70 militiamen, five tanks, four armored vehicles, seven pickup trucks, and one Kamaz truck were involved in the attack.

The ministry announced that it used air force and artillery to repel these attacks and killed more than 50 Ukrainian fighters.

Russia began what it described as a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, as part of a national security measure against the persisting eastern advance of the US-led NATO military alliance.

Moscow also said the military operation was aimed at defending the pro-Russia population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against persecution by Kiev, and also to "de-Nazify" Ukraine.

Since the start of the war, the US and its Western allies have been providing Kiev with military equipment worth tens of billions of dollars. Western weapons supplied to Kiev include advanced missile systems, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems.

Russia has repeatedly warned against flooding Ukraine with weapons, insisting the massive shipments of armaments to Kiev will only prolong the conflict.

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