Protecting Russian regions from shelling is a priority task that the Defence Ministry should deal with, President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting to discuss issues related to the restoration of residential infrastructure that had been destroyed as a result of attacks conducted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On January 24, Putin held a meeting with the Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov (the Belgorod region borders on Ukraine — ed.), following which specific instructions were given regarding the shelling of the Russian regions by Ukrainian troops.
"Of course, the priority task is to eliminate the very possibility of shelling, but this is a matter that the military department should deal with,” Putin stressed.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine shell Russia's border regions regularly. On January 24, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that since the beginning of the special operation, 25 people had been killed as a result of the shelling, and another 96 residents of the region had been injured.
In turn, on January 30, the head of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said that additional forces of the Russian Defence Ministry would be sent to the region in the near future. According to him, the military will protect the border.