Whereas the Belgorod area bordering Ukraine is being bombed day by day by the Ukrainian military, 30 km additional south, in Chebekino, hundreds of Russian refugees are pouring in, supported by overwhelmed humanitarian organizations.
In Russia, the scenario within the Belgorod area on the Ukrainian border, which has been bombarded day by day by troops from Kiev in current days, remains to be very tense. Within the city of Chebekino, 30 km south of Belgorod, the scenario is most worrying for the Russian authorities, as they don’t all the time have the scenario within the border space underneath management.
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As a result of, opposite to the Kremlin’s depiction, within the Belgorod area not just some villages are sometimes bombed, but in addition a city of 40,000 inhabitants, Chebekino, which has virtually turn into a ghost city in a couple of days of its residents. There would solely be 200 to 300 on web site. All factories are at a standstill, there is no such thing as a water, fuel or electrical energy due to the bombing by the Ukrainian military and the invasion of pro-Ukrainian Russian teams. Oleg, who helps the final residents who need to depart the town, confirms that “the town emptied very quickly. Individuals left in slippers, with out denims or sneakers. Most of their papers stayed.”
Chebekino, in Belgorod Oblast (Russia), on the border with Ukraine. (GOOGLE MAPS)
Within the metropolis of Belgorod, about thirty kilometers away, the world is cordoned off and forbidden to overseas journalists. However the photos and testimonies are piling up: Hundreds of fleeing residents arrive there, who’re being supplied with the very best care by overburdened support organizations. In Belgorod in current months we have now seen a lot of Ukrainian refugees fleeing from the Russian facet; Now Russian refugees are arriving. A shock on this metropolis of 300,000.
The Chebekino refugees, many within the metropolis, are shocked and offended. Shocked as a result of the shelling appears to have been fairly intense and plenty of left their houses with out taking something with them. Some really feel they can’t return. A girl admits her concern that Chebekino might turn into a second Mariupol. After which, for a lot of, these residents are offended with the Russian state, which can not shield them.
“We by no means heard any help, not even on TV. We all the time hear about Donetsk, Lugansk or Kherson. However what about us?”
Anastasia, resident of Chebekino
at franceinfo
The military ought to have repelled these assaults, they need to have been higher ready, some say. Others say they don’t perceive why Ukrainians are focusing on civilians. Svetlana, present in a reception heart, reiterated: “The Ukrainian military is capturing at civilians. In Chebekino there aren’t any troopers, no strategic targets, solely homes! We don’t perceive why we’re being shot at.” She explains with a assured and indignant expression that the Russian military solely has army targets in its sights. She’s not the one one: one other resident who doesn’t present pro-Kremlin sentiments, nevertheless, makes roughly the identical speech.
It’s like some individuals in Russia are starting to comprehend what has been happening in Ukraine for over a yr. One Belgorod resident, who isn’t precisely pro-Kremlin, instructed us: “Some individuals understand what’s occurring in Ukraine.”