‘thousands’ of people fled Kharkiv region, Russian official says

Of the “thousands” people left the Kharkiv region, the scene of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, towards Russia in twenty-four hours, said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine. “It wasn’t the easiest night, it wasn’t the easiest morning. Over the past 24 hours, thousands of people have crossed the border”he said in a video address, published on Sunday on his Telegram channel.

According to information from the Russian press agency TASS taken up on Saturday by the Guardian, residents of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv region had been advised to evacuate to Russia. That “will save lives”, said the administrator of the zone, installed by Moscow, Vitaly Ganchev. Mr. Gladkov also said that food and humanitarian assistance would be provided to people who had to wait in their vehicles to enter Russia, at Logachevka.

Most of the people who crossed the border in the Belgorod region went to settle with their relatives residing in Russia, according to Governor Gladkov. “Today, 1,342 people are in 27 temporary accommodation places set up in the region”he specified. “The situation is under control”he said, assuring that on Sunday afternoon, there were no longer long queues at the border, unlike the previous night.