"Ukrainian militants continue their activities against our country": the Kremlin assessed the situation in the Belgorod region

On the morning of May 23, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, spoke about the situation in the region, where a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group had penetrated the day before.

"The cleansing of the territory from the consequences continues," Gladkov stressed.

The day before, a counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in the Belgorod region. At the same time, residents of nine settlements were evacuated: Grayvoron, Novostroevka, Gorky, Bezymeno, Mokraya Orlovka, Glotovo, Gora-Podol, Zamość, Spodaryusheno.

In addition, the head of the Belgorod region said that on May 22, as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 12 residents of the Grayvoronsky urban district were injured.

"MLRS worked on residential buildings and civilians, explosive devices were dropped from quadcopters. As a result, there are 12 wounded civilians, damage was recorded in 29 private residential buildings and three cars. There is currently no electricity in 14 settlements, we will begin restoration work when the operational situation allows, "he explained.

Gladkov also noted that the Belgorod region was shelled 15 times. So, in the village of Nikolskoye, a drone was shot down, and artillery worked on the village of Zhuravlyovka, 14 shells were fired.

The Shebekinsky urban district was shelled 25 times: eight shells were fired at the village of Terezovka, ten at the village of Sereda. Artillery worked twice on Novaya Tavolzhanka, and an explosive device was dropped from a drone.

"In Shebekin, two arrivals from a mortar at the border checkpoint were recorded, and an explosive device was dropped from a UAV at a road junction, there were no casualties or destruction," the governor said.

Five shells from mortar guns were fired at the village of Stary Khutor in the Valuysky urban district.

In the Borisov district, the village of Lozovaya Rudka came under mortar fire. Also, two explosive devices were dropped on this settlement from drones. "There are no casualties, there is damage to the administrative building and one private household - the roofs are broken," Gladkov added.

RT spoke with a resident of Grayvoron named Dmitry. The man said that the situation in the village is more or less calm.

"We only hear how our and theirs artillery works. But nothing arrives in the city itself, somewhere on the border it bangs. Apparently, they (saboteurs. - RT) were still pushed abroad. After all, we are only a few kilometers away from the border. Last night we heard small arms, we thought it was fighting, then it turned out that it was ours who shot down Ukrainian drones. Today, everything is much calmer, only the sounds of artillery, "said the interlocutor of RT.

The Kremlin's comment

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the situation that occurred the day before in the Belgorod region "causes deep concern."

"This once again confirms that Ukrainian militants continue their activities against our country. This requires a lot of effort from us. These efforts continue, and the special military operation continues in order to prevent such infiltrations in the future," the press secretary of the head of state emphasized.

He also noted that Vladimir Putin will not hold a special meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation in connection with the penetration of the Ukrainian DRG into the Belgorod region.

On the eve of Peskov reported that the Ministry of Defense, the FSB and the Border Service reported to Vladimir Putin about the penetration of saboteurs. According to him, measures have been taken to squeeze them out of Russian territory and destroy this DRG.

"We are well aware of the purpose of such sabotage - to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction, to minimize the political effect of the loss of Artyomovsk by the Ukrainian side," he said.

Criminal case

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under six articles on the fact of an attack on the settlements of the Belgorod region, the press service of the department reports.

Criminal proceedings were initiated on the grounds of crimes under Articles 205, 317, 105, 167, 222, 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: "Terrorist act", "Encroachment on the life of law enforcement officers", "Attempted murder", "Intentional destruction or damage to property", "Illegal trafficking in weapons and explosives".

According to the investigation, on the morning of May 22, representatives of the Ukrainian armed formations attacked the Grayvoronsky district of the Belgorod region. Thus, residential and administrative buildings, civilian infrastructure facilities were subjected to mortar and artillery shelling. As a result, several civilians were injured.