Around 9,000 children will be evacuated from the Russian region of Belgorod, the local governor said, as Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine carry out cross-border raids in the region and blow up ammunition depots.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine near Kharkiv, reported on March 19 that two villages had been evacuated after a munitions depot fire. Russian soldiers blew up several ammunition depots in Belgorod.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the Belgorod governor, said the first group of 1,200 children will be evacuated on March 22.
The announcement comes after shelling in the region this morning injured three people and left the border district of Grayvoronsky without power, Tass, the Russian state-owned media agency, reported.
Pro-Kyiv Russian soldiers who have captured prisoners and villages in the regions of Belgorod and Kursk over the past week have repeatedly called for residents to evacuate to avoid being caught up in military strikes.
The previous day, Gladkov warned local residents to be wary of land mines that he said had been found along the border. He said the mines had been discovered after Ukrainian forces had purportedly shelled the area.
U.S. and South Korean officials have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with artillery shells, missiles and other equipment in recent months to help fuel its war on Ukraine, saying that such arms transfers accelerated after a rare summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.
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