Thousands of Russians were forced to flee their homes near the border with Ukraine amid intense shelling in the region.

Intense shelling in Shebekino

Shebekino, a town of 40,000 people in the western Belgorod region, has been intensely shelled for days.

Armed incursion from Ukraine

The attacks have come after a dramatic armed incursion from Ukraine, pushing thousands to flee border villages to the regional hub of Belgorod.

Personal accounts of the shelling

“We left as (Shebekino) was bombed so much that our windows broke,” Zaikina, a retired engineer, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

She said a neighbor in his thirties had his hand amputated after being injured in the shelling.

“Many houses have been destroyed,” she said.

The 75-year-old said numerous attacks had hit Shebekino but never this intensely.

“Now, they hit the center of the town.”

Evacuations and government response

Zaikina got in a car with a friend and drove 30 kilometers (18 miles) to Belgorod city, where authorities have placed displaced villagers in the local sports venue Belgorod Arena.

Moscow has appeared to downplay the situation in border regions that have been intensely shelled this week, despite local authorities announcing evacuations.

On Friday, the mayor of Belgorod, Valentin Demidov, told AFP that around 5,000 people who fled border villages have registered with city authorities, with several hundred in temporary housing.

Personal stories from evacuees

At the crowded sports arena, evacuees told AFP they had fled Shebekino in panic during intervals of shelling.

“We left as there was a small break (between strikes),” said 30-year-old Margarita Nikolayeva

She left with her husband, two children, three cats and a dog.

The family had moved to Shebekino from Siberia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nadezhda Otstavnaya left Shebekino with her husband “in our old rusty car.”

They took the back roads to Belgorod because “they were shelling the center of the town.”

Calling for attention from the government and media

But she had questions for Russia’s powerful state media – and even the Kremlin – as to why events in Belgorod are not at the forefront of Russian news.

“I want to address.. our central television, so that our town and region would be featured not for three seconds so that people (Russians) know about us,” she said.

“We, the people of Shebekino, lost everything.”

She also urged “the Russian government, Mr. Putin, to pay attention to us.”

Hopes for a resolution

She expressed support for Putin’s policies and the Russian army.

“Of course, we hope that somehow it will all be OK, that our guys will win,” she said.

Ksenia, a 31-year-old shop worker who did not want to give her last name, left Shebekino with her husband and parents on an evacuation bus.

“It’s a hopeless situation,” she said.

He said he was counting on the Russian state to step in.

“If the government does not help rebuild, not give us housing, then we will all be homeless.”