Belgorod region authorities to close schools and kindergartens in districts bordering with Ukraine

Schools and kindergartens of the Belgorod region of Russia in five municipalities located within the five-kilometre border area — urban settlements Krasnaya Yaruga and Borisovka, the town of Grayvoron, and Belgorod and Shebekino districts — will be closed, announced region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Children will instead go to schools and kindergartens that were selected by municipal authorities. “I hope you will agree that the question of life and health safety of every child and every adult is an undisputed priority when it comes to our actions,” said the governor. 

Gladkov added that schools and kindergartens located in four different border area municipalities — urban settlements Rovenki, Veydelevka, and Volokonovka, and the town of Valuyki — will operate as usual starting 1 September. 

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, there have been reports about Ukraine-bordering villages of the Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod regions of Russia being regularly shelled. For example, on 20 July, Gladkov reported that a civilian had been killed in the shelling of the village of Nekhoteevka.

The Belgorod region administration spent 17.5 million rubles (€290,000) on a Buran armoured truck for the governor so he could travel to the Ukraine-bordering areas.