Moscow, Aug 14 (EFE).- The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a state of emergency on Wednesday throughout its territory, which borders the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been carrying out an offensive since earlier this month.
«The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,» Gladkov said in a video posted on Telegram, adding that daily shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces had destroyed houses and killed and wounded civilians.
«Therefore, we are making a decision, starting today, to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region…with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation,» he added.
Russia declared a «counter-terrorism operation regime» in the Belgorod region, as in the neighboring Kursk and Bryansk regions, all of which border Ukraine, on Friday, following a cross-border incursion by Ukrainian troops.
It has also sent reinforcements to the Kursk region in the face of the Ukrainian offensive, the first ground invasion of Russian territory in almost two-and-a-half years of war.
According to Kyiv, in just eight days Ukrainian troops have taken control of more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of the Kursk region.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, said on Tuesday that «unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people’s property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region.»
«But we want to protect the lives of our people» from attacks launched from Russia’s border region, the spokesperson added. EFE
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