The government authorities in Russia on Sunday appealed to the residents of the Shebekino district sharing borders with Ukraine to evacuate the area as shelling intensified.
The Russian district of Shebekino, which is located in the western Belgorod on the Ukraine border, has been facing daily shelling which has killed many civilians and forced villagers to flee from the region.
The region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov appealed to residents to co-operate with the government authorities and evacuate the district.
“I ask that in the villages of, first of all, the Shebekino district that has been shelled, to listen to the position of authorities and leave — temporarily leave — their homes,” Gladkov said on Telegram.
He added that their goal was “to safeguard what is most important: your life and the lives of your close ones”. He added that the district went through another “not calm night” with “a lot of damage”.
The statement was made by Gladkov a day after two women died in border villages because of shelling. He stated that “more than 4,000 people” who belong to border areas are currently staying in temporary housing in the Belgorod region.
He added that on Sunday, the government authorities would shift the children of soldiers, who have been deployed to Ukraine, and minors from border villages to youth camps.
Ready to meet Russian pro-Kyiv fighters, says governor
The governor further stated that he was ready to meet Russian pro-Kyiv fighters who had claimed responsibility for attacks and are holding two Russian soldiers captive.
“The only thing stopping me from negotiating with them is our guys that are in their hands, maybe they are already dead. But if they are not, then from 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) to 6:00 pm at the car border point in Shebekino. I guarantee safety,” Gladkov said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the war with Russia has killed at least 500 Ukrainian children.
In a statement, the president said that “Russian weapons and hatred, which continue to take and destroy the lives of Ukrainian children every day,” killed the hundreds who had perished since the full-scale invasion by Russia of Ukraine started on February 24, 2022.
“Many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, contributing to Ukraine’s history,” he added.
Russia missiles hit airfield in central Ukraine, says Kyiv
On Sunday, the Ukrainian authorities claimed that the Russian missiles struck an airfield located near the city of Kropyvnytskyi, in the central region of the country.
Russia launched “six missiles and five attack drones”, said Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat on television.
“Unfortunately not all of them were destroyed. Of the six, four were destroyed by air defence and two hit the operational airfield near Kropyvnytskyi,” he added.
WATCH | Sirens wail as Kyiv repels Russian air attacks | Ukraine-Russia War
Meanwhile, the Russian army also confirmed that it hit military airfields of Ukraine with long-range weapons.
“Today at night, the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group strike with long-range precision-guided air-launched weapons against enemy targets at military airfields,” said the Russian army in a statement.
Kropyvnytskyi is a small city located in central Ukraine’s Kirovohrad region, south of the capital Kyiv.
The attack comes as air assaults were intensified by Russia on Ukraine, with the capital city Kyiv facing attacks for several days in a row this week.
The war, which has now continued for more than 15 months, has escalated further as Kyiv has been claiming that they are preparing for a major counteroffensive.
The border villages of Russia also faced intense shelling this week.
(With inputs from agencies)
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