How the Belgorod region survives under shelling and without heat The last winter for the entire Belgorod region became the worst in four years of war with Ukraine. Increasingly, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in retaliation for attacks on their energy facilities, began, as locals say, to “put out the lights” in the region. A Cherta correspondent, as part of a group of volunteers, went to the Belgorod region to understand how people survive there and what it’s like to live constantly under shelling.