Shelling kills four in Russian border region

Published March 19, 2024
TOPSHOT - A view taken on March 17, 2024 shows a damaged kindergarten following a missile strike in Belgorod. A strike on March 17, 2024 on the Russian region of Belgorod that borders Ukraine killed one person and injured 11, the regional governor said — AFP
TOPSHOT - A view taken on March 17, 2024 shows a damaged kindergarten following a missile strike in Belgorod. A strike on March 17, 2024 on the Russian region of Belgorod that borders Ukraine killed one person and injured 11, the regional governor said — AFP

MOSCOW: Ukrainian shelling killed four people near Russia’s border city of Belgorod on Monday, bringing the total number of dead in the region since last week to 15, authorities said.

Attacks on Russian territory have intensified in recent days as Russia wraps up elections that could see President Vladimir Putin in power until at least 2030.

“Four people were killed in the village of Nikolskoye as a result of a direct shell hit on a private residential house,” governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

“Rescuers recovered the bodies of two more women from under the rubble,” Gladkov said, after posting previously that a 17-year-old boy and a man died of their wounds.

Combined with previous figures released by Belgorod’s health authorities, at least 15 people have been killed across the region since last Tuesday.

The attacks have drawn anger and frustration from the Kremlin, which has been keen to downplay the impacts of its offensive in Ukraine on the Russian population.

Russia’s border regions were targeted last week by a series of brazen cross-border raids by pro-Ukrainian militias, who claimed to have seized control of a village.

In a press conference after his re-election victory, Putin said he was considering creating a “sanitary zone” in Ukrainian territory adjoining Belgorod to prevent further attacks.

“I do not rule out that, bearing in mind the tragic events taking place today, we will be forced at some point, when we deem it appropriate, to create a certain ‘sanitary zone’ on today’s territories subordinate to the Kyiv regime,” Putin said.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...