The Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod bring the Ukrainian conflict closer to the Russian population. Now Moscow is reacting.
Belgorod – The Russian border region of Belgorod has repeatedly reported attacks by Ukrainian troops in recent times. This has now also prompted the Kremlin to take a stand on what is happening. And again the West is being blamed for a lot of the blame for the war.
According to Moscow, the Russian army is doing everything it can to stop Ukrainian shelling in the Belgorod region. “Of course, our military will continue to do everything possible to first reduce the danger and then eliminate it completely,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday (January 9). He accused the Ukrainian army of using weapons supplied by European allies to attack civilian targets in the city of around 340,000 residents.
Air strikes on Belgorod cause casualties
Moscow has always tried to maintain a semblance of normality at home, but the recent attacks on Belgorod are bringing the war to a head Ukraine closer to the Russian population. Last month, 25 people were killed in air strikes by Ukrainian forces on Belgorod. According to the regional authorities, around 300 people were recently evacuated from the city, and the start of school was postponed by ten days to January 19th. The city administration asked Belgorod residents to secure their windows with tape to prevent them from shattering during attacks.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported on Tuesday that Russian air defenses in the city had repelled ten attacks during the night and several houses had been damaged. Three people were injured by falling debris from Ukrainian weapons being fired.
Ukraine War: The fronts have hardened
Although the front line in Ukraine has remained largely in the same place since the fall of 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured on Tuesday that the army was inflicting heavy losses on Ukrainian troops and was in a better position than the enemy. Western support for Ukraine will not change the end result, but will simply prolong the fighting. Russia will boost drone production this year, Shoigu also said.
Since the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive this year, the tone in Moscow has become much more optimistic – despite its own heavy losses in the fighting, which the US puts at 315,000 soldiers injured or killed. With this number, the Americans largely refer to Ukrainian sources. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated the number of Russian soldiers killed or seriously injured as of January 10, 2024 as 366,790.
However, this information cannot be independently verified – the Russian side remains silent about the number of its own victims Ukraine war further out. (
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