Belgorod crisis: 9,000 children to be evacuated amid Ukraine shelling

Authorities in the Belgorod region of Russia, near the border with Ukraine, plan to evacuate about 9,000 children due to shelling from the Ukrainian side, the TASS agency reported on Tuesday. The ongoing conflict on the border of the region with Ukraine has persisted for a week.

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Official Russian data indicates that, over a week, 16 people have been killed and 98 injured as a result of Ukrainian shelling in the Belgorod region. On Tuesday, a missile strike in the town of Razumnoye, near Belgorod, injured three individuals, including a 14-year-old boy who lost an arm.

**Evacuating 9 thousand children**

In response to the continuous shelling, local authorities have decided to take action.

"We're relocating a large number of villages, and we're currently planning to evacuate about 9,000 children from Belgorod, including the regions of Belgorod, Shebekino, and Gavryonvsky," said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region.

According to Gladkov, the evacuation of the children is set to begin on March 22. They will be moved to areas including Penza, Tambov, and Kaluga.

Ukrainian Pravda notes that since March 12, conflicts have been occurring in Russian regions bordering Ukraine between the forces of Putin's regime and Russian volunteer formations loyal to the authorities in Kyiv. These formations include the Russian Volunteer Corps, the Freedom of Russia Legion, and the Siberian Battalion.