Shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said defector militias ‘failed’, Russia quietly evacuated villages around one of their major border cities.
More than 9,000 children are being ‘removed’ from the Belgorod area, near the Ukrainian border, after increased attacks from the Freedom of Russia (FRG) legion.
Regional governor Vyacheslav told the General Council of the ruling United Russia party yesterday that 16 people have been killed and 98 injured due to shelling over the past week.
He was quoted by state agency TASS as saying: ‘We are resettling a large number of villages. Now we are planning to remove about 9,000 children from Belgorod, Belgorod district, Shebekinsky district, Grayvoronsky district.’
More than 1,200 children will be evacuated in the first group, which will leave the city on Friday.
The evacuation began after three people, including a child, were injured by shelling.
The strikes saw shopping centres close on Sunday and Monday and students in Belgorod were told to stay home Monday and Tuesday.
It comes after Putin told a board meeting of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) yesterday that the militias were failing.
‘All attempts to break into our territory by sabotage and terrorist gangs consisting of regular enemy units, foreign mercenaries… and all kinds of s***… all these attempts failed,’ the Russian president said, according to TASS.
Yet the FRG has been successful in many of its shellings and strikes within Russian territory.
Earlier this month, they claimed to have taken control over multiple Russian border towns.
In an update on Telegram, FRG claimed to have seized control of the city of Tetkino, adding that Russian soldiers were forced to flee their positions.
The FRL was created in the summer of 2022 to provide a way for Russians opposing the invasion to fight alongside Ukrainians.
Putin accused Ukraine of launching increased border attacks to disrupt his election bid, but the strikes have continued from multiple Russian defector militants even after the elections.
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