2024-01-11 11:39:31
(Moscow) The large Russian city of Belgorod, the target of several large-scale Ukrainian attacks in recent days, is experiencing “difficult times”, the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, admitted on Thursday.
Posted at 6:39 a.m.
“The Belgorod region is going through difficult times,” lamented the official during a visit to an exhibition in Moscow intended to promote the richness of Russian heritage, including in the occupied Ukrainian regions.
“Everyone is afraid,” Mr. Gladkov admitted to the press. “When missiles explode […] you don’t worry about yourself, but about your children.”
These comments contrast with the declarations of the Kremlin which, two months before the presidential election, is trying to demonstrate that the conflict with Ukraine does not directly affect the daily lives and security of Russians.
On Tuesday, its spokesperson Dmitri Peskov swore that the authorities would do “everything” to stop the Ukrainian bombings on Belgorod.
PHOTO OLGA MALTSEVA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Belgorod, January 10, 2024
And this while missile and drone attacks from Kyiv continue after the strike, at the end of December, the deadliest on Russian soil since February 24, 2022 (25 dead).
However, a sign of growing concern, Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on Wednesday the evacuation of nearly 400 children from Belgorod, a town of 335,000 inhabitants that is a regular target of Ukrainian attacks in response to the large-scale bombings by the Russian army on the Ukraine.
The authorities have also already postponed the start of the school year until January 19 and called on residents, for the first time in nearly two years of conflict, to secure their windows to protect themselves from possible shards of glass in the event of Ukrainian strikes.
Despite everything, Mr. Gladkov also tried to make reassuring remarks on Thursday.
PHOTO OLGA MALTSEVA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Belgorod, January 10, 2024
“Our mission is to help people,” he insisted. “We are rebuilding destroyed houses, we are moving teaching to distance learning, but we are continuing to build new schools,” he assured.
The official was speaking from VDNKh Park, built in northeastern Moscow in the late 1930s to highlight the greatness of the USSR.
Until mid-April, this park hosts the “Russia” exhibition, wanted by the authorities to praise a country “with a rich history and immense prospects”, according to its website.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his first campaign speech there in December ahead of the presidential election scheduled for March 15-17.
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