Two people were killed and two wounded today by Ukrainian artillery fire in Russia’s Belgorod region, the governor of that region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said, while the head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner assured that he was ready to send his units to defend Belgorod from bombings and attacks.

“Since this morning, settlements in the Sebekino urban district are under fire from the Ukrainian armed forces,” Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging platform. Yesterday, Friday, Gladkov had stated that more than 2,500 people are moving away from this region because it is not safe to be there.

Russian officials have reported in recent days that attacks from northern Ukraine have intensified there. Five people were killed and 16 wounded in Ukrainian shelling of the Belgorod region yesterday, Friday, Gladkov had reported, adding that 500 artillery shells, mortars and rockets from multiple launchers hit the region, more than 370 of which hit the city of Sebekino and its area, where 40,000 people live.

“The night was restless. Air defense had a job over the city of Belgorod,” Gladkov wrote today.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner, assured today that, “if the (Russian) Ministry of Defense does not stop what is happening in the Belgorod region (…), where Russian territories are occupied by object, then obviously we will arrive there”.

“We will defend our Russian people and all those who live there,” he added in a recorded message released by his press service, clarifying that his men would not wait for an “invitation” or permission to deploy to the this region.

“The only thing we will ask for is ammunition, so that we don’t end up, as we say, with bare bottoms in the cold,” Prigozhin added.