A regularly bombarded Russian town on the Ukrainian border has reported a wave of looting after local authorities called on residents to leave their homes due to intensified shelling attacks, the RBC news site reported Monday, citing a local ambulance station.
“A plastic window was broken in the technical room" in the town of Shebekino's ambulance substation, Alexei Zhirov, chief ambulance doctor in the Belgorod region, told RBC. "The doors in the control room were left open…Perhaps they were looking for potent and narcotic drugs.”
The Belgorod region has regularly reported drone and shelling attacks since the invasion of Ukraine. But intensified shelling in recent days has forced local authorities to start evacuating civilians from border areas.
A video posted Saturday by the Ostorozhno, Novosti Telegram channel showed a local shop with broken windows and empty shelves.
Another video that went viral on social media on Saturday showed another shop with broken windows.
“Look what the looters have done…This was done by our people, they must have taken something out,” a woman can be heard saying in the video.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov last week admitted there was a risk of looting.
“There are feelings that someone will come and plunder. Of course, there is such a risk, so our task is to try to ensure the safety of the property that remains there,” Gladkov said in a Telegram post.
According to Gladkov, at least 4,000 people evacuated from border areas were currently in temporary housing in the Belgorod region.
