The Russian Ministry of Emergencies declared today in state of emergency at the federal level the Belgorod region, which borders Kursk, the head of the ministry, Alexander Kurenkov, said today.

“The situation in the region remains complicated and tense. As a result of the terrorist attacks by Ukrainian armed groups in the Belgorod region, houses and infrastructure facilities were damaged, there are dead and injured civilians,” he said.

Yesterday the governor of Belgorod, the Russian region neighboring the Ukrainian territory, announced that it is declaring a state of emergency at the district levelciting the “extremely difficult” situation due to the ongoing Ukrainian shelling.

“The situation in our region, Belgorod, remains extremely difficult and tense, due to the shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces. Houses were destroyed, civilians were killed and injured,” regional governor Vychislav Gladkov said via Telegram.

“To guarantee better protection of the population and to offer further assistance to the victims, a state of emergency will be declared at the district level” from today, he added and emphasized that he is asking Moscow to also declare a state of emergency “at the federal level”.

He spoke of attacks by Ukrainian drones against two villages in the region — Sebekina and Ustinka. The authorities in the Kursk, Varonez and Bryansk regions also spoke of Ukrainian drone raids, however, assuring that they were shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defense during the night. Authorities in Kursk also reported that four Ukrainian missiles were destroyed over the perimeter overnight.