Russia to Evacuate 9K Children From Belgorod Region Amid Attacks

Authorities in western Russia’s Belgorod region announced Tuesday that they will evacuate 9,000 children to other regions in the country amid an increasing number of attacks from Ukraine.
Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said 16 civilians were killed and 98 others injured in cross-border shelling over the past week, during which Russians went to the polls for the March 15-17 presidential election.
“We’re planning to move out about 9,000 children from Belgorod [city and three neighboring districts],” Gladkov said at an event for the ruling United Russia party, according to the state news agency TASS.
He said the first group of 1,200 children will be evacuated on March 22 to the central regions of Penza, Tambov and Kaluga.
Russia’s Interior Ministry said in January that it had helped evacuate some 2,800 children from the Belgorod region.
President Vladimir Putin said in his election victory speech on Sunday that he was considering building a “buffer zone” inside Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, which borders the Belgorod region, to prevent further cross-border attacks.
Ukraine’s presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak slammed the comments as a sign that Putin was seeking to escalate the war.
As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a “foreign agent” by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It’s quick to set up, and you can be confident that you’re making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.