Russia’s Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine has now become an active combat zone after three groups of Russian defectors serving with the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a two-pronged incursion in the area, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official said on Thursday.
“Kursk and Belgorod regions are now an area of active combat actions. This is what we confirm,” Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said during a Ukrainian television appearance.
He was speaking after the Freedom of Russia Legion, Siberian Battalion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK)—three Ukraine-aligned volunteer military units—launched a cross-border raid into Russia’s southern Belgorod and Kursk regions.
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Belgorod is located near the Ukrainian border and is home several Russian military bases and training grounds. The region has been rocked by explosions and mysterious fires throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with local authorities regularly reporting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the area. Fighting has intensified in the region amid the incursion, launched on Tuesday.
“And as stated by the volunteers and rebels, we are talking about Russian citizens who, having no other options, are defending their civil right with arms against the Putin regime,” Yusov added.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.
The three groups urged residents of Belgorod and Kursk to evacuate on Wednesday, saying they were “forced to inflict fire on military positions located in Belgorod” because “every day, dozens of ordinary innocent Ukrainians (mostly women and children) die from shelling from Belgorod.”
They issued a similar warning on Friday afternoon, saying that “within the next hour, a massive attack will be carried out on military targets in the city of Belgorod.”
Belgorod also came under missile fire on Friday morning, according to the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said two people were injured as a result of shelling.
“One man suffered a chest bruise and a closed fracture of several ribs; an ambulance team took him to city hospital No. 2 in Belgorod. All necessary medical care is provided,” Gladkov said in a post on Telegram. “The second man had his face cut by glass shards. A medical team is on its way to the victim.”
The governor said 23 apartment blocks were damaged in the city of Belgorod, that a school stadium was struck, and school building windows also sustained damage.
“In the Belgorod district, various damages were recorded in several apartments of one apartment building, 5 private residential buildings and two shopping center buildings. 8 cars were also damaged,” he said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said air defense systems shot down seven rockets from the RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system over the region in the morning.
Local media also reported that morning air-raid alert and explosions disrupted the first day of voting in Russia’s March 15-17 presidential election. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show the moment voters heard an explosion at a polling station.
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