Russia: Belgorod Enters Emergency Due to Ukrainian Attacks
President Putin held a meeting to define operational measures for the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions.
On Wednesday, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov declared a regional state of emergency due to the escalating situation, with authorities considering elevating the emergency status to the federal level.
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“The situation in the Belgorod region remains extremely challenging and tense. Daily shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine has led to the destruction of homes, as well as injuries and fatalities among civilians,” Gladkov said in a video address.
“Therefore, we have decided to declare a state of emergency across the Belgorod region starting today to provide additional protection to the population and offer further support to those affected,” he said, indicating that the regional government would soon appeal to the federal commission to request declaring a federal-level state of emergency.
The attack by Ukrainian forces on Russian border territories has intensified over the past few weeks. In response to this situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting to define operational measures for the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions.
In front of members of the Security Council and authorities of these regions, the Russian leader said that the main task is to eliminate the enemy, thus ruling out any kind of talks with the Ukrainian government.
“What kind of negotiations can we talk about with people who indiscriminately attack civilians and civilian infrastructure and try to create a threat to nuclear energy facilities? What can we talk about with them?” Putin stressed, adding that Kiev’s attack is aimed at slowing down the pace of the Russian offensive.
He also stressed that one of the goals of the recent Ukrainian attacks is to sow discord within the Russian population in order to destabilize the internal political situation. This is not happening, however, as the response of Russian citizens has been unanimous support for their armed forces and for the population under siege in the border regions.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: Xinhua – EFE – WorldNews