Some 300 residents of the western Russian city of Belgorod have been evacuated following a recent wave of Ukrainian strikes, authorities said Monday.
“Around 300 Belgorod residents, who decided to evacuate temporarily, are currently being housed in temporary shelter centers in Stary Oskol, Gubkin and the Korochansky district,” Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video posted on the messaging app Telegram.
The three places mentioned are all located deeper inside the Belgorod region, which shares a western border with Ukraine.
“Over the past 24 hours we received 1,300 requests to send Belgorod children to schooling camps in other regions,” Gladkov added.
On Friday, the governor offered Belgorod residents to evacuate from the city, which is less than 20 miles from the Ukrainian border and which has been coming under intensified strikes from Ukraine in recent weeks.
The evacuation from Belgorod is the largest of a major Russian city since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Just before New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian strikes on the city killed 25 people, the deadliest attack against civilians in Russia since the war began.
The Ukrainian strikes followed large-scale Russian attacks across Ukraine, killing at least 30 people.