"Grades" in the yards and trenches in the city. How the war came to the Belgorod region

Of all the Russian regions, the Moscow decision on the invasion of Ukraine was most hit in the Belgorod region. As of April 14, there were 12 officially confirmed incidents related to hostilities: shelling, “outbreaks”, an accident with military equipment, “pops”. This is more than in the neighboring Kursk and Voronezh regions combined.

Among the latest incidents are the shelling of the villages of Zhuravlevka and Opdarushino, explosions at the oil depot and the industrial zone of Belgorod, the “cotton” with the fall of the fragments in Tomarovka, Nikolsky and clear dawn, explosions near the village of Krasny October. An accident with the participation of military equipment regularly occur. In the village of Kazinka, Valuysky Gorograk on April 8, the tank flew out of the road and broke through the fence of one of the houses. On April 11, an armored car crashed into the same house, and a truck with a rocket drove into the neighboring house.

Some areas were twice covered with a chemical cloud: tanks with nitric acid were blown up in the Luhansk region, but the wind blew towards Russia. Residents had to close the windows and wear respirators for some time.

A tank explosion with nitric acid in the village of Rubezhnoye in the Lugansk region. Source: Telegram / Radio Freedom, Pivovarov (editors)

In reality, there are more such incidents, since the authorities do not comment on each episode and do not always associate it with the war. Residents say that the shelling has turned into a routine phenomenon, and "fly both from one and the other." Local media are afraid to inform the information that does not have official confirmation due to the fake laws, but people discuss this among themselves or in the comments on publications.

“We say: look at the news and calm down! Because everything in them is much better than it really is. Better, they say a lie. They are silent about a lot. If there is an opportunity to hide, then hide, ”Belgorodians shared with The Insider.

People like a live shield

Residents of the village of Nizhny Olshans near Belgorod reported that the Russian military housed rocket launch rocket systems right near residential buildings, that is, they made exactly what Moscow condemns military Ukraine.

“Near our houses, when it all began,“ grades ”stood, sometimes they shot right from there,” a resident of the village told The Insider. - One of the cars was right next to our house. Our village is located about 20 kilometers in a straight line to the border. ”

The fact that the Russian military place MLRSs near residential buildings was also reported by Ukrainians. Odessa businessman Andrei Stavnizer posted a photo of Russian technology near his house-12 units, including the Tornado-G RSOs and Grad.

Odessa businessman Andrei Stavnitser handed over the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of his house when he saw a webcam that Russian MLRS was standing near him and shooting in the direction of Kyiv. The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the equipment. Photo: Facebook / Andrey Stavnizer

In the Ministry ofborns of Russia, such actions denied. The Permanent Representative of Russia at the UN Vasily Nonenzya called the placement of missile systems in residential quarters by violation of international humanitarian law, “vile tactics” and the branded handwriting of Ukrainian nationalists, which are hidden by civilians as a living shield.

The first calm day in the Lower Olshanz is called February 27. But the fire did not stop at all. Russian air defense has shot down only part of the missiles, residents say. "Of the three - one flew." The wreckage of the downed shells fell into residential settlements, breaking the windows of houses and glasses of cars. The situation with shelling worsened in late March - early April. Residents again had to go down to the basements.

Preparation for the worst

Now the Belgorod region lives in anticipation of escalation. The inhabitants with whom the Insider spoke are afraid that the war will come to the territory of Russia. The same is discussed in social networks.

“We heard from people who helped the military in Belgorod with clothes and products that we“ will fly in both directions ”(shells - author's note). They said that there would be an escalation before the weekend on April 9-10. That already on Friday, on Saturday, there will be some massive blows. We left half a city, but nothing terrible happened. There were blows, but ordinary, the air defense intercepted. Therefore, now in the city everything is in a state of uncertainty. No one understands who distributes this information and why, ”said the doctor of the city hospital No. 2.

Residents from the border villages of Zhuravlevka and Nonkhoteevka were evacuated back in March, since people were actually on the line of fire. But now they are leaving from Belgorod. “The city is empty, you go to the car - there are few cars, there are no people. When I went by train, he was full. A lot of people with children are leaving, ”said the interlocutor The Insider.

Residents also reported that in April a new equipment came to Belgorod.

“There have been a lot of military vehicles here for a long time, but earlier they basically stood in the vicinity, moved at night. And recently, on April 11, 212 tanks appeared in the city itself. The column was walking around the city, we counted them. And when we went on a train from Belgorod to the eagle, it was about three hours, then planes flew very low over us, right above the train, it was very scary, it is impossible to sleep. ”

The trenches of an unknown purpose

Residents also concerned the appearance of mysterious trenches in Shebekino and Belgorod, or, as they were nicknamed, “trenches”. The head of the Shebekinsky district, Vladimir Zhdanov, did not talk about their appointment. He only assured the inhabitants that “as a military man, he is simply reinsured”, however, it is not clear what. And everyone else has nothing to worry about.

The location of the ditches brought into the bewilderment of users of social networks. The Ukrainian border is located south of Shebekino, and the trenches appeared to the west, in the area of ​​the villages of Grafovka and Titovka. In social networks, users are trying to understand how this structure will help protect the city.

"You need to dig in front of Shebekino, and not after Shebekino!" - The user writes in the Schepot Shebekino group in VK. Some fear that the structures are made for the defense of Belgorod, and there is no question of protecting Shebekino and other small cities in the event of an attack.

Source: vk.com / whisper Shebekino

The depth of the ditches is from 2 to 2.5 meters, the width is about 1.5 meters. This is too narrow and small for an anti -tank moat, the task of which is to direct the equipment to narrow places, where, as a rule, artillery fire awaits it. It is different from the line of the trenches for defense. The ditches also appeared in Belgorod. According to residents, they were dug on the roads.

“They took off the asphalt, closed with some kind of cobblestones. This is on the road that comes from Shebekino and from other cities around Belgorod. When we left, they just fell asleep cobblestones. They made it so that it is impossible to drive along this road. How will the inhabitants of these cities leave? And from the same Belgorod to evacuate how? Some kind of country roads? " - The interlocutor The Insider is perplexed.

An offensive from space

The tightening of military equipment in the Belgorod region is also confirmed by the satellite pictures of Maxar Technologies. On the frames of April 11, the accumulation of tanks and armored personnel carriers along the 14K-34 highway and the corridor leading from the village of Soloti and the city of Valuyki towards the border with Ukraine is visible. There are tent towns and tanks, and part of the equipment is hidden in a forest belt. There was nothing here on April 2.

The accumulation of technology in the Valuysky district of the Belgorod region, coordinates: 50 ° 14'33.0 "N 37 ° 58'27.1" E (50.242500, 37.974200). Source: Twitter.com / Maxar

There are several training grounds in the Valuysky district. On one of them you can see up to 20 tanks and at least 21 military helicopter. The accumulation of technology and near the village of Agoshevka was noticed. There are tanks, armored personnel carriers and military trucks that were absent in the pictures on March 29. In the village of Soloti in the same area there is a 237th tank regiment of the Russian ground forces.

Earlier, Maxar Technologies published pictures that show how a 12-kilometer column of Russian military equipment moves in the Kharkov region. She follows south through the village of Bolshaya Burluk east of Kharkov.

Column of Russian equipment in the Kharkov region. Source: Twitter.com / Maxar

Less hunters, more warriors

However, the fighting could already be overwhelmed to the territory of Russia. There was evidence that in the forests adjacent to the border of the Belgorod region there are clashes between the Armed Forces and the Russian military. It has not yet been possible to confirm this. According to other sources, there are no Ukrainians there, but there are Russian intelligence and military personnel.

This was one of the reasons for the ban on the spring season of hunting in the Belgorod region. A letter with such a request was written to the governor of the initiative group of hunters. Other reasons indicated. These are the sounds of shots that can provoke psychological injuries in refugees, including children who arrived from Ukraine.

From the letter of hunters to the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov. Source: Telegram / Belgorod No. 1

As a third argument, the authors of the letter provide a fake about biological weapons, which is allegedly developed by the Ukrainian authorities. Hunters fear that people can suffer when eating produced game, since the bird, according to the authors of the appeal, may be intentionally infected in Ukrainian biolaboratories.

Against the backdrop of the fears of the escalation, the governor of the region announced an additional set of folk combatants. They will patrol the streets and monitor the order. At the same time, the number of voluntary folk squads plan to double.

The tightening of forces to Belgorod and the appearance of Shebekinsky ditches provoked not only talks about escalation, but also the possible preparation of the counter -cost of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for Russia. This idea is already circulating in some Russian Telegram channels and among residents. But the script in which the Ukrainian military enters the territory of Russia is unlikely, experts say. Even if the Armed Forces of Ukraine are freed raisins and approach the border, then there they will rather move on to the defense of their territory. Kyiv has neither resources nor tasks to seize Belgorod and other Russian cities, especially when the occupation of Mariupol and other settlements continues in Ukraine itself.