Belgorod, the city where the war in Ukraine came to Russia | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
July 24, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2025
Belgorod, the city where the war in Ukraine came to Russia

World+Biz

Reuters
16 March, 2024, 10:50 am
Last modified: 16 March, 2024, 10:52 am

Related News

  • Ukraine appoints new prime minister in biggest wartime overhaul
  • Trump promised Patriots for Ukraine. Now Europe has to provide them
  • Putin, unfazed by Trump, will fight on and could take more of Ukraine
  • Kremlin says Trump statements on Russia and Putin are serious, require analysis
  • Trump says he is 'disappointed but not done' with Putin, BBC reports

Belgorod, the city where the war in Ukraine came to Russia

Reuters
16 March, 2024, 10:50 am
Last modified: 16 March, 2024, 10:52 am
Boards with portraits of Russian servicemen are on display in a boulevard, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the centre of Belgorod, Russia, March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Boards with portraits of Russian servicemen are on display in a boulevard, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the centre of Belgorod, Russia, March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Air raid sirens wail almost daily in the southern Russian city of Belgorod, sending people rushing for cover and reminding residents the full-scale war in neighbouring Ukraine is a reality for them too.

Compared with the destruction across much of Ukraine, Russia's vast territory has been largely unscathed.

Belgorod, 40 km (25 miles) north of the border, is the main exception, a reminder that not every civilian can be shielded from the conflict.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

As Russians began voting early on Friday in a three-day presidential election, a missile alert forced election officials to take shelter at a polling station in Belgorod and voting was briefly halted, according to Russia's RIA state news agency.

Vladimir Seleznyov, a pensioner who witnessed a missile attack on Plekhanov Street on Feb. 15 in which seven people were killed, said it was hard to grow accustomed to the danger.

"Of course, the situation is difficult, but we live near the border. It would be a stretch to say that we got used to that," he told Reuters on a recent visit to the city to which international media rarely get access.

"It's understood that, naturally, we will win, we will prevail, but the people are worried and concerned."

In the ancient fortress town, now a modern city of 300,000 people that is once again on Russia's front lines, scores of civilians have been killed in drone and missile strikes from Ukraine since February 2022.

Kyiv denies targeting civilians just as Moscow does, despite Russia having launched drones and missiles against Ukraine that have killed thousands of civilians and caused hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of damage.

In the worst civilian loss of life from foreign enemy fire in internationally recognised Russian territory since World War Two, 25 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in missile attacks on Belgorod on Dec. 30 last year.

As he marches towards certain re-election in the March 15-17 vote, President Vladimir Putin nevertheless remains popular in Belgorod as he does across Russia, underlining how the war has galvanised support for him.

He calls it a "special military operation" and casts it as part of a long-running battle with a decadent and declining West that humiliated Russia after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Ukraine and its Western allies say the invasion was an aggressive and illegal land grab.

WAR FOOTING

For Belgorod residents, disruptions are frequent and the signs of war are in plain view.

Soldiers walk the streets and cement blocks have been positioned at bus stops to protect people from potential blasts.

Primary schools have moved to online lessons only while secondary schools are working on a hybrid model of home and in class, similar to how many Ukrainian institutions operate.

Buses stop running when warnings of a missile threat sound, forcing people to disembark and walk. Shopping can be complicated and appointments are often cancelled. Thousands of people left the surrounding region to escape the danger.

Civilian volunteer groups in Belgorod are supporting soldiers, a phenomenon that is common across Russia and Ukraine.

Galina, who collects everyday hygiene items and tools for digging trenches and sends them to the army, said she helps to try and bring the conflict to an end.

Echoing words used by the Kremlin to describe the leadership in Kyiv, she spoke of the need to "denazify" Ukraine and end "fascism" there. Ukraine and its allies dismiss such language as nonsense, pointing out President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is Jewish.

"There are no other options," said Galina, who gave only her first name, as she stood in a warehouse with goods for soldiers.

"I believe that the work that he (Putin) has started in terms of a special military operation, he must complete it," she added.

CROSS-BORDER INCURSIONS

Russia's defence ministry said on Friday its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to launch a cross-border attack on the Belgorod region the day before.

In a statement, the ministry said Ukraine used helicopters to land up to 30 soldiers close to the border village of Kozinka. It said they were repelled by Russian soldiers and border guards.

Ukrainian officials said earlier on Friday that two Russian border provinces, Belgorod and neighbouring Kursk, were under attack by anti-Kremlin Russian armed groups based in Ukraine.

The town of Shebekino, located some 7 km from the border in Belgorod region, was hit by shelling in May and June last year by armed infiltraters. Shell craters mark the roads, and buildings were hit and damaged.

At that time, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov escorted about 600 children from Shebekino and Graivoron districts to the cities of Yaroslavl and Kaluga, far from the Ukrainian border.

Pensioner Valentina said she also left Shebekino temporarily last summer, persuaded to do so by her daughter, before returning.

She said she hoped the war would end soon and that people who left the town would come back.

"Everyone wants to get back home," she said, adding that she planned to vote for Putin. "He has to finish off this war."

Top News

Ukraine / Russia-Ukraine war / Ukraine war

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A file photo of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Photo: Collected
    Al Jazeera probe: Hasina, in call with Taposh, talks using helicopter to shoot, crush protesters in July Uprising
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    Tariff issue: Bangladesh, US set for crucial virtual meeting on 29 July - not tommorow
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks during a meeting with Abrar Fahad’s family at the state guest house, Jamuna on 24 July 2025. Photo: PID
    CA orders list of victims killed during Awami League era

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Collected
    Bangladeshi man jailed for life in UK for murdering wife in front of their baby
  • Ctg port authority halts contractor recruitment for Kamalapur ICD operations for two months
    Ctg port authority halts contractor recruitment for Kamalapur ICD operations for two months
  • Fire at Cosmo School in Mirpur on 23 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Fire breaks out at Cosmo School in Mirpur following generator explosion
  • Representational image. File Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS
    Debate arises as edu adviser says postponed HSC exams of 22 and 24 July will be held on same day
  • BB issues dress code for all, discourages short-sleeved or length dresses, leggings for female staff
    BB issues dress code for all, discourages short-sleeved or length dresses, leggings for female staff
  • Infographics: TBS
    Stay orders won’t shield defaulters: BB governor 

Related News

  • Ukraine appoints new prime minister in biggest wartime overhaul
  • Trump promised Patriots for Ukraine. Now Europe has to provide them
  • Putin, unfazed by Trump, will fight on and could take more of Ukraine
  • Kremlin says Trump statements on Russia and Putin are serious, require analysis
  • Trump says he is 'disappointed but not done' with Putin, BBC reports

Features

Photo: Collected

24 July: More than 1400 arrested, 3 missing coordinators found

19h | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help at burn institute

2d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Mourning turns into outrage as Milestone students seek truth and justice

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Uttara, Jatrabari, Savar and more: The killing fields that ran red with July martyrs’ blood

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

AI is uncovering the lost history of ancient Rome

AI is uncovering the lost history of ancient Rome

47m | Others
Jamaat Ameer's statement misleading: Chatra Dal general secretary

Jamaat Ameer's statement misleading: Chatra Dal general secretary

1h | TBS Today
Dollar gets upward push as BB buys $10m more in auction at even higher rate

Dollar gets upward push as BB buys $10m more in auction at even higher rate

2h | TBS Insight
Why is Korniya called the Jamdani Sari girl?

Why is Korniya called the Jamdani Sari girl?

1h | TBS Programs
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net