Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, a Russian city near Ukraine’s border, announced on Monday that no fewer than 300 residents of the town have been evacuated due to strikes by Ukraine.
Gladkov, in a Telegram video, said that “around 300 Belgorod residents who opted for temporary evacuation are currently being accommodated in temporary shelter centres in Stary Oskol, Gubkin, and the Korochansky district,” situated farther from the border.
Gladkov also said that in the past 24 hours, authorities received 1,300 requests to send children from Belgorod to school camps in other regions away from the city.
Belgorod, located less than 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the Ukrainian border, has faced heightened strikes from Ukraine in recent weeks, prompting Gladkov to offer the city’s residents the option to evacuate.
This evacuation marks the largest of a major Russian city since Moscow initiated what it terms a “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022.
December 30 witnessed Ukrainian strikes on the city that resulted in the deaths of 25 people, constituting the deadliest civilian toll in Russia since the conflict’s onset.
These strikes followed a massive bombardment by Moscow across Ukraine, the largest such attack since the conflict’s initial weeks, claiming the lives of 30 people.
