The governor of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, which was infiltrated a week ago by a group of saboteurs from Ukraine, said on Monday that Russia should annex the Ukrainian province of Kharkiv in order to solve the problem of bombing in the region.
The best way to prevent this border region from receiving enemy missiles is through the annexation of Kharkiv, Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Russian state television.
“Kharkiv should be incorporated into the Belgorod region,” the somewhat official said. “Do you believe in this possibility?” insisted the journalist from the Rossiya24 channel. “It is the best way to solve the problems of the bombings,” the regional chief repeated.
Gladkov said that since Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened militarily in Ukraine, Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have entered the Belgorod region on at least five occasions.
On May 22, this area of ​​Russia suffered the most serious cross-border incursion launched from Ukraine in the last 15 months. A group of saboteurs entered the Graivoron district, the closest to the Ukrainian border, with armored vehicles and an artillery force.
Moscow blamed “Ukrainian terrorists”, but the Kyiv authorities have disassociated themselves and blamed the operation on two groups of volunteers, made up of anti-Putin Russian citizens, who are fighting alongside the Ukrainian army. These, the Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, claimed responsibility for the operation. The Russian Army mobilized and, using aviation and artillery, it took more than 24 hours to expel them. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “more than 70” of those fighters were eliminated.
“We are living in real war conditions,” Gladkov said Monday. “Like it or not, that is happening. The enemy is entering, and before the latest events in Graivoron it has already entered five times,” the governor said.
Since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, which Moscow officially calls a “special military operation”, the Belgorod region has been regularly subjected to fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Gladkov assured that on Monday morning several towns have been bombarded simultaneously by Ukrainian forces.
Among the affected areas, the politician said on Telegram, are two industrial facilities in the city of Shebékino (39,000 inhabitants).
In one of them, a paint and varnish plant, a fire broke out and four employees were injured suffering respiratory burns and carbon monoxide poisoning. One of them is in intensive care.
There was also a shelling in the village of Nóvaya Tavolzhanka, which damaged power lines and left several towns without power.
There were similar incidents a day before. A fire broke out at a company in Shebékino on Sunday after damage caused by a shell. In the village of Bezludovka, the attack hit a building on the territory of a recreation center. In Belianka there was damage to a private house, and in Murom a drone hit a grain warehouse.
