Injuries, Evacuations As Russia's Belgorod Region Hit By Shelling

Destroyed cars, which Russian authorities say were hit with rocket artillery fired from Ukraine, are seen in the town of Shebekino.

The photo is one of several released by Belgorod's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, on May 31 showing damage in Shebekino, which lies just 6 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. 

A woman is led away by two people wearing paramedic uniforms in Shebekino. 

Gladkov said on Telegram that at 3:15 a.m. on May 31 "Grad shells" injured four people, with one man suffering serious wounds from shrapnel. RFE/RL is not able to verify the claims. 

Remnants of rocket artillery are seen on the street near Shebekino's courthouse (on left in background). 

The rocket strike came one week after an armed incursion into the Belgorod region launched from Ukrainian territory by anti-Putin Russian militants, and a day after several apparent Kamikaze drones were spotted flying over Moscow. 

Elderly people wait inside a bomb shelter in Shebekino. 

The strikes on Russian territory came amid a wave of recent attacks on Ukraine. On June 1, a Russian missile killed at least three people, including a 9-year-old girl and her mother in Kyiv. 

On May 30, a security guard of this building, which Belgorod authorities say was serving as a temporary accommodation facility for internally displaced people, was killed by a rocket strike. 

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN on May 31 that the White House "has been clear, privately and publicly, with the Ukrainians that we don't support attacks on Russian soil."

Children board a bus leaving the Belgorod region. 

Belgorod authorities announced on May 31 that some 300 children from in and around Shebekino were being evacuated to the Voronezh region. 

 

Children from the Belgorod region arrive at temporary shelter near Voronezh on May 31. 

Further evacuations of families with children from the border areas will reportedly take place in the coming days. 

Apparent shelling damage in the Belgorod region

Kyiv has denied any involvement in the recent strikes on Russian territory, while simultaneously hinting that more could follow.

Remnants of a rocket in Shebekino

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said after the recent drone attacks on Moscow: "Of course, we enjoy watching and predicting an increase in attacks. But of course, we have nothing to do directly with it."