The Belgorod region is prepared for the worst possible development of the situation in the context of the war with Ukraine, but continues to develop and is making plans to return people to the border area. Pravda.Ru writes about this.
The day before, the governor of the Belgorod region. Gennadi Gladkov On November 20, he held a two-hour press conference. The transmission was carried out through social networks. He noted that the beginning of 2024 was very difficult: more than 38 thousand houses and apartments were destroyed (more than 32 thousand were restored, more than 6 thousand “are still in operation”). But even now, destruction and casualties are reported almost daily in the region. According to the governor, federal aid to the region has amounted to more than 40 billion rubles since the creation of the Northern Military Region. Regional expenses – more than 19 billion rubles.
“Of all the regions of Russia, this is the most difficult for us. Therefore, the situation forces us to do everything possible to save our own lives.” – said Gennady Gladkov.
According to him, 2.5 thousand protective structures and 7.5 thousand basements were equipped in the region, 3.3 thousand backup generation units, 922 electronic warfare systems for ambulances, school buses and agricultural equipment were purchased. About 9 thousand fire extinguishers were distributed to border residents.
He wondered whether the mistakes made during the defense of the Kursk lines were taken into account, because “it would take an hour for the tank column to reach Belgorod.” Gennady Gladkov explained his approach in conditions in which “we (regional leaders) cannot say one hundred percent that we guarantee security”:
“We are building defensive structures. From the point of view of risk analysis and construction of the most negative scenario, we work every day in a fairly systematic way. We are preparing for a difficult winter, where there will be no gas, no electricity, and no ability for fire trucks and rescue vehicles to reach residents. We chopped firewood, made stoves and bought generators. If there is diesel, we will use diesel; If there is gasoline, we will use gasoline; If there is nothing, we will use firewood.”
According to him, as a result of the work carried out after the intense bombing on July 1 of this year, there were “only” 137 complaints about lack of electricity.
The worst-case scenario, according to Gennady Gladkov, involves the “simultaneous collapse of six multi-story buildings.” For this reason, the regional operational headquarters created six autonomous sub-headquarters, which are headed by vice-governors:
“Each headquarters can clear debris, remove the wounded and provide assistance. There is a clear algorithm and each deputy knows what to do in the complete absence of cellular and other radio communications. “There is a messaging system.”
To stop possible advances on the border, the local militia “Bares” has been created, which interacts with the Ministry of Defense, as well as the “Orlan” group, which interacts with the Russian Guard.
“All the legal nuances have been resolved and the weapons have been handed over. The tasks are not revealed,” said the governor. Clashes have already occurred.
He wondered whether multi-storey buildings in Shebekino could be protected from attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles. Gennady Gladkov believes that four- and five-story metal structures with mesh, which could extend three to four meters around the perimeter of the house, are not suitable, since they “will become clogged with snow, increase in mass and break, and the same in the wind.”
There was a case when a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle attacked, avoiding about seven different types of electronic weapons, Gennady Gladkov said. According to him, there is no point in shooting small arms at drones and the use of shotguns in apartment buildings will lead to the death of people.
“We shoot down a thousand, but one or two cause problems. I will not say anything new: access to the Kharkiv bypass will solve the problem of drone attacks on Shebekino.” – concluded the governor.
He asked to prepare for the worst case scenario, “taking into account the information that you and I began to receive three days ago in the international media.”
However, Gennady Gladkov believes that the Belgorod region will be able to cope with the situation. According to their estimates, by the end of 2024 the region’s gross regional product “will exceed 1.5 trillion rubles, although doing business in the region is quite risky.
The governor promised that after the end of the war, the government would return the lands to the displaced people who sold their properties to the State to obtain new homes, and has already agreed on a mechanism with the prosecutor’s office. But they will build their houses themselves.
Nobody is going to create a gray zone in the border area; industrial and social infrastructure will return after assessing how many people will return, promised Gennady Gladkov.
