Belgorod governor buys pricey Buran armoured truck for “visiting Ukraine-bordering areas”

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, has spent 17.5m rubles (€290,000) of taxpayers’ money on a Buran armoured truck, as per the public procurement website.

Gladkov says he is going to use the truck to travel to the Ukraine-bordering areas, including the villages that are often shelled by Ukraine.

“The vehicle will be used by me and the rescuers, doctors, and all people needed in the bordering areas,” he says. Gladkov might actually be using the truck to travel to Ukraine’s Luhansk region, a Russia-occupied territory, says Fonar, a local media outlet.

Since the start of the Ukraine War, Gladkov, as well as governors of other Russian regions bordering Ukraine, have repeatedly reported attacks on their territory. Alexander Bogomaz, the Bryansk governor, reported that Ukraine had bombed a Russian border checkpoint earlier today.