About 9,000 children are to be evacuated from a Russian border region which is being shelled by Ukraine, an official has claimed.
Kyiv’s forces have increasingly been striking at targets behind the extensive front line that has changed little after more than two years of war.
The children are to be moved further east, away from the Ukraine border, the governor of Russia‘s Belgorod region, Vyacheslev Gladkov, said. It has not been possible to independently verify the claims.
The announcement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin wants to create a buffer zone to help protect border regions from long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids.
Elsewhere, Russia’s navy has highly likely limited its operations in the eastern Black Sea amid mounting losses, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update.
Ukraine’s continued success in conducting its sea strike campaigns resulted in Russia’s defence minister visiting the Black Sea Fleet command post in the Crimea region on 17 March for progress updates, it said.