Artillery shell fired from Ukraine hits private home in Russia, wounds civilians

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - An artillery shell fired from Ukraine partially destroyed a private home in Russia's Belgorod Region on Wednesday, wounding several civilians.

Following the incident, a state of emergency was declared in two villages located near the Russia-Ukraine border, Zhuravlyovka and Nekhoteyevka, the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said in a post on his Telegram channel.

"There was an emergency -- an artillery shell was fired from Ukraine at us. The shell exploded in the village. There are victims. Therefore, for the safety of the residents of Zhuravlyovka and Nekhoteyevka, the administration of the Belgorod region introduces an emergency regime in these two villages," Gladkov said.

Both settlements were evacuated after the shelling, he noted.

On Feb. 24, two adults and one child born in 2015 were wounded by shelling from Ukraine and several homes and one car were damaged in Belgorod.

On Feb. 27, two missiles fired from an Uragan multiple launcher landed on a field close to Nekhoteyevka village but did not cause any casualties or damage.

The Russian Investigative Committee opened separate criminal cases following all the incidents.

- Russia says Ukrainian nationalists shot at ambulance, killing 4 medical workers

Separately, the head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, Mikhail Mizintsev, said Ukrainian nationalists shot at an ambulance in the city of Sumy "for no obvious reason," killing four medical workers who were en route to provide urgent assistance to wounded civilians.

In the city of Kharkiv, several residents attempted to leave the basement they were sheltering in to search for food and water, and "for this alleged ‘liberty,’ they were shot by nationalist fanatics right in the courtyard of their house," Mizintsev added.

The military chief reported that on March 23, Russia opened humanitarian corridors in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv directions: one humanitarian corridor to Russia and one to territories controlled by Ukrainian authorities.

According to Mizintsev, Russia agreed on all of Ukraine's conditions regarding humanitarian issues, but “Kyiv did not approve any of the humanitarian corridors."

The Russian Armed Forces evacuated nearly 18,000 people over the past day, including more than 3,700 children, Mizintsev said. Among them, 8,487 people were evacuated from the besieged city of Mariupol, including 26 citizens of Vietnam and Jordan.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK among others implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 977 civilians have been killed during the war and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates.

More than 3.6 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.