Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The forecast for the region shows freezing temperatures for at least another week.
With temperatures well below -10 degrees Celcius, the residents of the Russian Belgorod Region had a rough weekend following a Ukrainian attack Saturday.
According to Reuters, Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said around 600,000 people were left without electricity, heating and water following the Ukrainian attack.
Writing on Telegram on Saturday, he said repair crews were working but warned the situation was “extremely challenging”.
Monday morning, it is unclear, if power has been restored in the region.
Winter pressure
The Ukrainian strike can be seen as retaliation for a cornerstone in the Russian strategy to wear down the Ukrainian population during the soon-to-be four year long war.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy network, triggering rolling blackouts and damaging heating systems during winter.
An overnight strike Thursday last week week left roughly half of Kyiv’s apartment blocks without heat, Reuters reported.
Temperatures across much of Russia and Ukraine have fallen well below freezing in recent days, with the forecast for the Belgorod region showing nothing but temperatures below zero for the next week.
The forecast for Kiyv shows the same pattern.
In Ukraine’s crosshairs
The Belgorod region sits along the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv area and had a pre-war population of about 1.5 million.
It has faced repeated attacks since Russia sent large numbers of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
The region has also been in the Russian authorities spotlight, as several reports of alleged fraud schemes has surfaced from the region, including a corruption scandal linked to Belgorod’s border defense as well as residents placing their cars in outside during Ukrainian attacks in the hopes of receiving compensation, if the cars are damaged during the attack.
Sources: RBC Ukraine, Reuters, Telegram, Kommersant
