One Killed in Ukrainian Shelling of Russia’s Belgorod Region

The region's governor said eight more people were wounded and a poultry farm was damaged

One civilian was killed, another eight people were wounded, and a poultry farm was damaged in Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, the region’s governor said on Sunday.

“One person died. It is known that the man came to us from Tambov and worked as a contractor on the construction of a poultry farm,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

Belgorod borders Ukraine and has come under attack throughout the war. Sunday’s shelling came after The Times reported that the Pentagon now tacitly backs Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory, although there’s no indication US weapons were used in the attack on Belgorod.

When the US provided the HIMARS rocket launch systems to Ukraine, the Biden administration said it received “assurances” that Ukrainian forces won’t use them inside Russian territory. But the US no longer appears to be concerned about how the weapons are used.

“When we give them a weapon system, it belongs to them, where they use it, how they use it, how much ammunition they use to use that system. I mean, those are Ukrainian decisions, and we respect that,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week.

The Times report said that the US was no longer concerned about Ukrainian attacks inside Russia leading to a major escalation based only on the fact that Moscow hasn’t yet responded with nuclear weapons or attacks on NATO countries.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.