MOSCOW: The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region declared a state of emergency Wednesday following Ukraine’s bombardment of the region.
“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. “Houses are destroyed. Civilians died and were injured.”
He added that “a state of emergency will be introduced on the regional level, followed by a request to the governmental commission to declare a federal state of emergency.”
In the neighboring region of Kursk, Ukrainian forces were in control of 74 settlements on Tuesday, Ukraine’s president said.
“Hundreds of Russian servicemen have already surrendered, and all of them will receive humane treatment – they did not experience such treatment even in their own Russian army,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address.
“We have proven once again that we, Ukrainians, are capable of achieving our goals in any situation – capable of defending our interests and our independence.’’
This is the latest development in Ukraine’s cross-border assault on Kursk that began a week ago, a surprise operation that caught Russia off guard.
Reuters reports that Ukrainian forces continue to advance in Kursk and have gained one to three kilometers in the last 24 hours.
That account does not square with that of Russia’s Major General Apti Alaudinov, who said Ukraine’s troops had been stopped as have attacks on villages 26-28 kilometers from the border.
Asked Tuesday about Ukraine’s action, U.S. President Joe Biden said he’s been briefed every four to five hours for the last six to eight days on Ukraine’s action.
“It’s creating a real dilemma for Putin,” he said of the operation, which appeared to have caught the Russians by surprise.
(VOA)
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