On May 12, Alexander’s apartment shook and his window shattered as his city of Belgorod, in the Russian region bordering Ukraine, came under attack.
“The neighbouring building was badly damaged, and two or three buildings along the roof had collapsed,” said the 31-year-old IT worker.
He called his landlady to talk about the damage to the apartment, but she did not pick up. The roof of her building had caved in during the assault.
“A lot of lads ran over from neighbouring buildings to sift through the rubble,” he said. “She died. The roof had collapsed, too, and the volunteers thought surely everyone had died, but they managed to save a few people even after that.”
In total, 15 people were killed and 16 were rescued from the rubble.
Belgorod, the capital of the eponymous region, occupies a strategic place in the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
A mere 40km (25 miles) from the Ukrainian border, Belgorod served as a base for Russia’s invasion since February 2022, making it a target for Ukrainian counterattacks. It has been repeatedly pummelled by artillery barrages and drone strikes that have increased in intensity, according to residents.
“I saw and heard the shelling of Belgorod from the very start of the war,” said Yuliya*, a 21-year-old journalist who requested anonymity.
“It was impossible not to hear it, it touched everyone in the city. Nowhere is safe. Even the city centre, where nothing [bad] ever happened before and it’s full of police, government officials, they should protect this area, right? Well, as it happens this isn’t true.”
There is no doubt that Ukrainian civilians have suffered the most in the ongoing war, with tens of thousands killed and cities like Mariupol completely devastated.
According to the local Russian governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, more than 200 residents of the region have died as a result of hostilities since 2022. More than a thousand others have been wounded, including dozens of children, a number of whom have undergone amputations, he says.
The deadliest incident took place on December 30, 2023, when a barrage of rocket fire struck the city during New Year celebrations. Five children were among the 25 people killed.
“Unfortunately, this has become the reality of each person who lives here,” said political scientist Margarita Lisnichaya, a member of the Digoria Expert Club political think tank and a Belgorod native who says she supports President Vladimir Putin.
“On July 11, an explosive device was deliberately dropped into the courtyard of an apartment building,” she continued. “It was not military men sitting on the playground, but five boys, one of whom was only eight years old.”
Several children were reportedly injured in the attack.
Lisnichaya said that firefighting efforts are complicated by emergency response teams themselves being targeted for a repeat attack, and accused the Ukrainian armed forces of deliberately firing on civilians.
Ukraine denies targeting civilians.
A report cited by the Washington Post, purportedly leaked by Ukrainian intelligence, claims that in the 12 months preceding April 2024, Russian warplanes accidentally dropped 38 bombs on the Belgorod region themselves, resulting in dozens of deaths.
Pavel Luzin, an expert in Russian military matters at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Massachusetts, does not believe that civilian casualties are intentional.
“The strikes damage Russia’s logistics and economic activity, and they demoralise the Russian population which has been mostly pro-war,” he told Al Jazeera.
“They have weakened Russia’s military capabilities: Russia needs to spend its limited military resources to counteract Ukraine’s strikes in the region. I think Ukraine will inevitably increase the number and the depth of the strikes because it is necessary in order to defeat Russia and consequently to eliminate Russia’s threat to Ukraine and to Europe.”
A national cause
The situation in Belgorod has attracted nationwide attention.
A grocery delivery service named Samokat has launched a feature enabling users from anywhere in Russia to buy food, hygiene and baby products for Belgorod residents left homeless by the shelling.
In May, Putin declared an operation to create a buffer zone in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region to protect Belgorod from counterattacks.
The ensuing Russian offensive took advantage of Ukrainian manpower and ammunition shortages, though as of July, Russian forces have yet to fully secure the area and Ukrainian attacks continue.
Governor Gladkov announced that 14 border villages would be off-limits from late July, effectively creating a buffer zone on Russian territory.
“In the spring, Belgorod was buried in thousands of tulips, which people came from all over Russia to see,” added Lisnichaya.
“Today’s reality is constant danger. In crowded places, at bus stops, on beaches, in parks, and so on, concrete shelters are installed everywhere. There were days when the missile warning sirens sounded 10 times a day.”
About 2,500 villagers living along the firing line have been evacuated and rehoused elsewhere in the Belgorod region or western Russia, with some children sent to summer camps.
Many Belgorod residents themselves have also left, especially the parents of young children.
‘The shelling got so intense’
In May, the United States allowed Kyiv to use its weapons, including artillery and long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, to strike inside Russia.
The Ukrainian military says it has begun striking military targets, including arms depots and air and naval installations. The deployment of Kyiv’s new rocket systems has also reportedly forced the Russians to move their own S-300 missiles out of range of Kharkiv.
Intentionally or not, civilians have suffered in the crossfire.
In June, a missile attack on the Crimean peninsula, which has been under Russian control since 2014, with US-supplied ATACMS killed five people, including three children.
Footage showed terrified beachgoers running away in panic. Moscow blamed Washington for the attack, claiming American specialists coordinated the strike using spy satellite data.
During a trip to Washington in early July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his counterpart, Joe Biden, to let his forces hit deeper into Russian territory, following the United Kingdom which greenlit Ukraine’s use of its Storm Shadow missiles earlier.
“Initially before the shelling got so intense, everything could be fixed in one or two days,” said Alexander.
“The shelling ended, municipal authorities arrived, cleared away everything and installed new windows. But now the consequences are more severe and they’re starting to get overwhelmed.”
For some shaken residents, living under fire has stirred calls for peace.
“I think people have started talking more about peace, for this all to be over,” Yuliya said. “Of course, people have different positions when it comes to the war, so we can’t say everyone turned into pacifists. They have started speaking more about peace, but everyone sees this on their own terms.”
“Those who remained, and this is a significant part of the region’s population, rallied,” added Lisnichaya.
“People know that temporary difficulties will pass, together we can survive everything. This environment only hardened people, made them even stronger and more persistent. They do not need revenge – they believe in truth and the strength of the Russian soldier, and they know that he will win.”
And yet, life in the city goes on.
“During the summer we had truly wonderful weather, the park was packed, there were still a lot of international students left who were sitting by the riverside, and there was a piano,” remembered Alexander.
“The air raid siren began sounding, and a girl kept playing the piano as if nothing was happening. She was so entranced by the music she didn’t even care about the alarm.”
But not everyone is able to carry on as if life is normal.
“Yes, I’m scared it will continue, and the more it happens, the scarier it becomes,” Yuliya confessed.
“I think I might have symptoms of PTSD, because even when there’s no shelling and nobody’s hurt, it’s scary for me to leave the house. I fear for my life and my heart starts beating.”
