Urgent evacuations ordered
Ukrainian attacks on Russian border towns are making Putin’s problems worse
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is now spilling over into its own territory. Hasty evacuations were ordered after Ukrainian attacks on Russian border towns. Kyiv also wants long-range missiles from the United States. Biden hesitates, fearing an escalation.
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Rocket hit in Belgorod, Russia, which is near the Ukrainian border across from Kharkiv.
Russia’s war in Ukraine does not stop at its own border. Russians are currently evacuating several areas along the Ukrainian border, where the war has spilled over into their own regions. It is unclear whether this was scattered fire or targeted attacks.
This week, the authorities in the Russian border region of Belgorod personally asked President Vladimir Putin (69) to authorize the evacuation of entire areas along the border. This was reported on Wednesday by the Russian Telegram channel “General SVR”, which has been shown to have insider access to the Kremlin.
“Civil war and collapse of the country” feared
The Ukrainian counter-offensive in the north-east of the country is now apparently taking the war right to Putin’s doorstep: As the Washington Post reports, “military targets in Russia were hit by artillery attacks” on Saturday. “Russian officials in towns along the border are ordering hasty evacuations.”
According to “General SVR” information, some areas of the Bryansk, Kursk, Voronezh and Rostov regions are also affected by the evacuations. In connection with a feared mobilization in the area, concerns about “a civil war and the collapse of the country” are also expressed.
Biden hesitates before long-range missiles for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44) is now also demanding a new and more powerful missile system from the United States that could reach far into Russian sovereign territory with a range of more than 300 kilometers.
Zelenskiy told Washington he had no intention of attacking Russian cities or targeting civilian targets in Russia, the New York Times reports. But such missiles are crucial for a broader counteroffensive that may begin early next year.
US President Joe Biden (79) apparently hesitates before delivering such weapons. He doesn’t want to start a major war with Russia. Long-range guided missiles, which would also put Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, within Kiev’s reach, could be seen by Putin as a major provocation, they say. Biden just wants the Russians to pull out of Ukraine. “We are trying to avoid World War III,” the newspaper quoted an earlier statement by Biden. (kes)
