Russian region vows crackdown on 'provocateurs' as claimed Ukrainian strikes cause 'catastrophic' outages, tensions
Russian authorities will ramp up the search for "internal enemies" who seek to spark tensions in Belgorod Oblast amid power outages caused by Ukrainian strikes, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Jan. 12.
The governor of the border region has claimed Ukrainian forces are increasingly targeting Belgorod Oblast's energy infrastructure, with an attack on Jan. 9 allegedly leaving over 550,000 residents without power.
Speaking at a regional government meeting, Gladkov said the energy supply situation in the region is "extremely dire," noting that the "energy capacity losses are reaching practically a catastrophic scale."
"We see that every difficult situation provokes aggression from our enemies — both external and internal," the governor noted, alleging an increase in "information attacks."
Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, is regularly used as a staging ground for aerial attacks on Ukraine and is, in turn, often subject to Ukrainian strikes.
Gladkov called for "monitoring" efforts that would confirm "attempts to provoke the population in order to destabilize an already extremely difficult situation" and "stir up social tensions."
The comments come as Russia is ramping up drone and missile attacks against Ukraine, causing massive electricity and heating outages in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and Dniproperovsk Oblast amid freezing temperatures.
While Ukraine has avoided publicly commenting on alleged strikes against Belgorod Oblast's power grid, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in October that if Russia causes blackouts in Ukraine, "we will do the same."
Commenting on the situation in the region, Gladkov said the authorities are focusing on ensuring the delivery of water and fuel for backup power generators, as well as other tasks aimed at mitigating the impacts of the outages.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
