Logistical center of the Russian invasion against Ukraine, Belgorod and its region have been regularly bombarded by Ukrainian artillery for several months. The frequency of bombings increased further around the time of the Russian presidential election in mid-March. According to Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, 24 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in the past two weeks. The intensity of the fighting could increase as the Russian army plans to encircle the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which has 1.4 million inhabitants and is 60 kilometers south of Belgorod.
Russian President Vladimir Putin only raised the situation in Belgorod on March 20, to convey “words of gratitude and admiration” to the inhabitants of the city. The autocrat, who always takes care to put a large distance between his person and the front, has not visited Belgorod since 2017. Local discontent is growing on social networks, relayed only by independent media based outside the country. Some rename their town “Blastgorod” from English blast (“explosion”) and Russian gorod (” city “).
To top it off, Russian bombs are added to the Ukrainian ones. According to the independent Russian media Astra, the Russian air force dropped five bombs on the Belgorod region – where fighting was taking place – causing significant damage. In 2023, a half-ton Russian bomb dropped by mistake had already left a huge crater on a Belgorod expressway. Poorly repaired, the roadway now forms a dangerous springboard for vehicles, as evidenced by a video circulating on social networks, which adds to residents’ grievances against the authorities.
“Shut up, you bastards!” »
The complaints reached the ears of one of the regime’s main thugs, presenter Vladimir Soloviev. The response was scathing. “Shut up, you bastards!” », the propagandist raged on the set of his show “Soloviev Live” on March 25, in one of his diatribes which characterize him. According to him, the discontented are “lots of filth pretending to be bloggers”whose objective is to “break our unity” by making people believe that “the federal power has forgotten Belgorod”.
The reaction was immediate. Some 2,500 comments appeared on the website of his show “Soviev Live”. Most often, the presenter is invited to Belgorod to observe the situation with his own eyes. Hours later, the platform was closed to comments.
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