Kursk regional government asks districts to dig trenches near OBGYN clinics and other civilian objects
Mikhail Gorbunov, the head of Kursk Region’s security committee, said it’s necessary to build shelters in rural areas and district centers, in case of shelling:
With regard to areas where people visit OBGYN clinics, the post office, shops and banks, those facilities don’t have basements, and shelters should be made available nearby. The most elementary shelter is a trench. Get them ready. We’ve already spoken about this. We’ll send you references and photos, but it isn’t complicated. Line the bottom, dig them in, line the walls with sandbags, so that people can take shelter. Our OBGYN clinics are built very light, they’ll be punctured right through.
Gorbunov also reported on the region’s efforts to clean out “underground spaces” and get them ready to be used as shelters. He said that 1,5 million people could take shelter, if needed, in the basements and underground spaces around the Kursk region.
Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit reported tightened security on key roads in districts bordering Ukraine. Heightened security measures have also been introduced in Kurchatov, the city where the Kursk nuclear power plant is located.
Russia’s Kursk region shares a border with Ukraine, and now regularly comes under fire. The last time this happened was October 18. Kursk’s Governor Roman Starovoit reported more than six explosions. “The shells landed onto a building that had burned down earlier; the rest of them fell on vegetable patches,” Starovoit said. A local woman was injured by shards of broken glass during the shelling.
On October 23, Starovoit reported that two fortified lines of defense had been completed in the region. Fortifications had been built by the Defense Ministry’s forces, in collaboration with the Kursk FSB border security department. According to the governor, a third defense line will be finished by November 5.
The day before Starovoit’s statements, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov also reported the construction of cement-block fortifications in the Belgorod region. The Wagner Group, too, is known for building similar fortifications in the annexed Luhansk region of Ukraine.
Follow Meduza in English on Twitter to stay up to date.