Nighttime shelling by Ukraine inflicted “serious damage” in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, the region’s governor said early on Friday.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, in a solemn video posted on Telegram after midnight, said city officials were holding an emergency meeting to devise a plan of action.
“I cannot say good evening, unfortunately, my dear friends,” Gladkov said in the video, recorded in near-darkness.
“The enemy has shelled the civilian city of Belgorod. Everyone knows we have no military targets. There has been serious damage. I have been out to look around.”
He didn’t provide details of the damage. He said the authorities have not set up temporary housing.
Separately, the governor of neighboring Russia’s region of Bryansk said Ukraine hit energy facilities using HIMARS missiles and drones, causing power outage at some settlements.
Russia and Ukraine said last week they had halted strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure, but they disagreed on the timeframe for the moratorium. The strikes resumed earlier this week.
The reported attacks took place against the background of US-brokered
peace talks.
A post on the unofficial Russian Telegram channel Mash, which has sources in the security services, said missiles had hit the city that lies about 40 km (25 miles) from the Ukrainian border and power had been cut in some districts.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reports. There have been no comments from Ukraine.
In his morning address, Gladkov said the works to restore electric power supply continue.
“As of today, we have not been able to fully restore electricity supply in Belgorod,” he said.
Ukrainian forces have regularly attacked Belgorod and nearby parts of the region since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor.
Ukraine has said Russian missile and drone attacks on the capital Kyiv in January left about a million people without electricity.
Ukrainian shelling causes ‘serious damage’ in Russia’s Belgorod, governor says
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Ukrainian shelling causes ‘serious damage’ in Russia’s Belgorod, governor says
- Vyacheslav Gladkov, in a solemn video posted on Telegram after midnight, said city officials were holding an emergency meeting to devise a plan of action
UN urges scam center clampdown amid ‘staggering’ abuses
- The new update said satellite imagery and ground reports showed that nearly three-quarters of the scam operations were in the Mekong region and had spread to some Pacific island countries, South Asia, West Africa, and the Americas
GENEVA: The UN has called on governments to clamp down on scam centers, which have mushroomed in Southeast Asia, with hundreds of thousands of people trafficked into forced labor.
The UN human rights office released a report documenting torture, sexual abuse, forced abortions, food deprivation, solitary confinement, and other abuses.
“The litany of abuse is staggering and at the same time heartbreaking,” said UN rights chief Volker Turk, urging governments to act against corruption that is “deeply entrenched in such lucrative scamming operations, and to prosecute the criminal syndicates behind them.”
His office had said in a 2023 report that hundreds of thousands of people were forced to work in the centers, which other investigations have found are responsible for billions of dollars of online fraud.
The new update said satellite imagery and ground reports showed that nearly three-quarters of the scam operations were in the Mekong region and had spread to some Pacific island countries, South Asia, West Africa, and the Americas.
Based on accounts from victims, police, and civil society groups, the report said forced laborers were held in immense compounds resembling self-contained towns, made up of heavily fortified multi-story buildings with barbed wire-topped walls and armed guards.
“The treatment endured by individuals within the context of scam operations is alarming,” the report said.
