Russian authorities began to evacuate the residents of Belgorod, Russia, on January 5, after Ukrainian air strikes on the border town intensified. The evacuation of hundreds of Belgorod residents is a first in the war that began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – Russia had not previously carried out such a large evacuation on its territory. Natalia, a resident of Belgorod, told our team that she sent her children to the outskirts of the town in a bid to keep them safe.
On January 5, local authorities suggested that residents of the Russian town of Belgorod consider evacuating. Since then, about 1,300 requests for local children to be schooled outside of the town have been submitted, according to the governor of the oblast (administrative region), in a message published on January 8.
“The governors of Voronezh, Yaroslavl, Kaluga and Tambov have agreed to accept our children,” the governor said. In light of these circumstances, school holidays were extended to January 22.
According to local media outlet Go31, on January 9, 381 residents of Belgorod, including 156 children and 54 retirees, had already been evacuated and brought to hotels turned into makeshift evacuation centres in Stary Oskol, Gubkin and Korotchansky, towns farther away from the border. Plans are in the works to evacuate 33 other Belgorod families.
Intensification of bombing since late December
These evacuations are a first in the war in Ukraine; Russia hasn’t previously enacted large-scale evacuations in a town within its territory. This action seemed necessary to Russian officials after a marked increase in air strikes on Belgorod carried out by the Ukrainian Army starting in late December.
On December 30, 25 people, including three children, were killed in Belgorod during an attack attributed to the Ukrainian Army. This represents the most deadly incident involving Russian civilians since the Russian offensive began in February 2022.
“The majority of the population won’t leave. This is our land, our home”
Natalia, who lives in Belgorod, told us how locals are managing under the air strikes.
I grew up in Belgorod. I live in the centre of town, which was bombed on December 30, 2023. By luck, I was in another neighbourhood at the time of the bombing. But I knew one of the families who were killed that day – a father, a mother and a one-year-old child.
On the night of January 8, three people were injured in another bombing in Belgorod. Viatcheslav Gladkov, the governor of the oblast where Belgorod is located, blamed Ukraine.
“Currently, there are three people in intensive care, all of them had to have operations,” Gladkov announced on his Telegram channel. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for these attacks on civilians.
Three videos verified by the geolocation experts at GeoConfirmed show Russian aerial defence units intercepting an object in the centre of Belgorod on the evening of January 8.
Another video, which has also been verified, shows an object hitting a road in Dubovo, in the south of Russia.
Natalia continues:
My family and I weren’t injured by the explosions (on January 8). But three civilians were.
After these tragedies, my family and I covered all the windows with a protective film in both our apartment in the town centre as well as our home in the country because the worst injuries are caused by shrapnel.
We’ve been taking precautions for the past two years. People have built shelters in their homes and offices where they can go in case of bombings. Our elderly parents have been moved as far as possible from the border.
We are all very afraid for our children. They’ve been displaced already. I try to stifle my tears, it is very hard.
My family and I have a place to go but I won’t leave my husband here. He is working and he won’t leave his team or our close friends. If we do leave, we’ll leave together.
The majority of the local population won’t leave. It’s our land, our home.
Before the bombings carried out by the Ukrainian government began, there was a lot going on in our region. People were joyful and life was bubbling. Today, everyone is anxious, though not broken. We continue to work and support one another as well as our defenders at the border.
On January 9, the Kremlin told the public that the Russian Army will be doing "everything" to stop the Ukrainian bombings of Belgorod.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials announced that at least four people had lost their lives and dozens of others were injured during Russian air strikes the night of January 7 to January 8.
