Attacks Inside Russia Ramp Up as Ukraine Readies Counteroffensive
Strikes in Russia have reportedly ramped up in recent days as Ukrainian forces prepare to launch a major counteroffensive.
On Friday, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia's Belgorod region, claimed in a Telegram post that roughly 850 missiles and other projectiles were launched at Shebekino, a municipality in the region located just near the border with Ukraine. The governor added that the strikes injured 16 people, who are being treated at a hospital in the region's municipal center, and killed two women from the village of Maslova Pristan.
The shelling, Gladkov claimed, has also caused damage to numerous buildings in the region, 10 industrial and business structures, three office buildings, and a dormitory. Shebekino was also reportedly without food or water as of Friday. Another border city in Belgorod, Grayvoron, roughly 70 miles west of Shebekino, has also seen 65 mortar strikes in recent days, though no injuries have been reported there.
Pro-Ukraine Russian rebel groups are reportedly still active in Belgorod, despite previous claims from the Kremlin that they had been successfully repelled, The Guardian reported Friday. One of the groups, the Freedom of Russia Legion, has posted extensive combat footage online and said that it has met with strong resistance from Russian forces.
Belgorod, the municipal center city of the Belgorod region, located along Russia's border with Ukraine, is seen. The governor of Belgorod has claimed that that region has suffered hundreds of missile strikes in the past few days. Vasily Maximov/AFP via Getty Images
The flurry of strikes in Belgorod comes amid longstanding reports that Ukraine is prepping for a sizeable counteroffensive against Russian forces as the invasion stretches into its 16th month. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that his country's forces are ready to launch the operation, the goal of which is to reclaim land taken by Russia. The president also expressed optimism over his country's chances in the fight to come.
"We strongly believe that we will succeed," Zelensky said. "I don't know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready."
According to Reuters, Russia currently maintains a hold on chunks of Ukrainian territory in the south and east, having attempted to annex four regions along Ukraine's eastern border last fall, a move that has been soundly rejected on the international stage.
Reports have also suggested that Ukraine is preparing to launch an effort to retake Crimea, a peninsula that was infamously annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukrainian officials have said that Russian leaders are attempting to flee Crimea out of fear that the counteroffensive will target the region.
Newsweek reached out to foreign defense experts via email for comment.
Source: Newsweek
