Belgorod Governor Says Ukraine Has Killed 200 Civilians in the Region Since 2022

Ukrainian shelling on the Russian border region has increased since Russia launched its offensive into Kharkiv

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, said on Tuesday that Ukrainian attacks on the border region since February 2022 have killed over 200 civilians, Reuters has reported.

Back in April, Gladkov said the civilian death toll in Belgorod was 120. In February, the UN estimated that at least 10,582 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

Civilian casualties in Belgorod have spiked in recent weeks as Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks increased after Russia launched its new offensive in Kharkiv from the oblast. Gladkov said in a video on Telegram that civilian access to 14 villages near the border was being restricted due to an uptick in Ukrainian attacks.

“I hope you will agree that it is unacceptable to let women and children into settlements that are shelled every day,” Gladkov said. “We have already lost a lot of civilians, we have a lot of wounded. And, of course, our task is to maximize security measures.”

Throughout the war, Kyiv has targeted residential areas of Belgorod with artillery shelling and drone attacks. The US recently gave Ukraine the greenlight to strike Russian border regions with US-provided weapons, but there haven’t been reports of American-made missiles killing civilians in Belgorod.

Militias fighting for Kyiv, including the neo-Nazi Russian Volunteer Corps, have also launched cross-border raids into Belgorod and have been armed with NATO weaponry, including US-provided armored vehicles.

Author: Dave DeCamp

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