“Everyone who takes a photo here is a potential gunner of the Armed Forces of Ukraine!”
“We know what attitude you have in Moscow. Consider us a village. You can’t even learn the name of the city, write it with “Sh”! – an employee, presumably of the FSB, in the border Shebekino is indignant. “We are raking to the fullest, and you don’t really tell what’s going on here on the news!”
We are sitting in the basement of the Shebekino police station. I was brought here after trying to take a photo of broken glass in the building of a beauty salon on the main street of the city. The shell flew into the House of Culture, but the blast wave knocked out windows in buildings at a distance of tens of meters. The military appeared suddenly. “Everyone here who takes a photo here is a potential gunner of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the submachine gunners said, they confiscated their phone and passport, put them in a car and took them to the police station, and then they took them to the basement. Whether for the sake of intimidation, or for shelter from shells: that day there were four shellings of Shebekino, the roar overhead almost did not stop.
After the next arrival somewhere not far away in the basement, the light goes out. The interrogation continues in the dark. None of the officers introduced themselves. They are looking for Ukrainian contacts, studying the photos on the phone – it was snatched out unlocked. They are trying to take DNA samples and fingerprints – but after the shelling, the equipment turns on with difficulty. The conversation becomes less harsh when the security forces find confirmation in the correspondence that they are actually a journalist. Media workers are no longer so interesting to them, at least in this situation.
“We do not play such games. We are not up to the war with journalists, we have a real one here. It’s you in Moscow who don’t know what to do,” says the employee, who never introduced himself, irritably. It can be seen how he tries to refrain from direct criticism of the center, but it turns out badly. Like many residents of the Belgorod region, regional security officials are clearly outraged by the Kremlin's indifference to what is happening in the border region and the lack of assistance. With annoyance, my interlocutor says that in the Belgorod region "there is not even martial law." Almost four hours later they let me out of the basement.
Belgorod security forces are outraged by the Kremlin's indifference to what is happening in the region and the lack of assistance
“Officially, there was only a counter-terrorist operation, but it was cancelled. And now there is no special regime. But we work as if it exists, ”the policeman tries to explain the detention, search and interrogation.
We leave the station, the employee escorts me to the car, which is parked at the Shebekinskaya hospital in one of the alleys. “You'd better write how we are trying to work with all this here. No one writes about this, ”the policeman complains. The city center has changed while I was spending time in the basement: the sidewalks are covered with broken glass, behind the site puffs of black smoke rise into the air. And three days later, they would strike at the police station, where I was taken for interrogation.
“Our Russian Donetsk or Mariupol”
The consequences of Putin's war in Shebekino were felt from the very beginning of the “special operation”. The county has been shelled regularly since February 24, 2022, but it was mostly a single "response". The Belgorod region was used as a springboard for the offensive in the Kharkiv and Sumy directions, and Russian military equipment was regularly stationed in the fields, "landings" and around settlements. Including the one from which the military shelled the territory of Ukraine. No one expected such a sharp escalation in Shebekino. On May 25 and 26, the city was relatively calm, only occasionally loud sounds were heard in the sky. “Air defense work,” the locals said and did not pay much attention. The children continued to play in the street, and the pensioners were in no hurry to leave the benches. On the morning of May 27, a siren wailed in the city. True, in the center it was almost inaudible – in contrast to the sounds of explosions directly overhead. Shebekino was shelled four times that day. Every day the intensity of shelling increased.
From the very beginning of the war, the Belgorod region was used as a springboard for the offensive of the Russian army.
While we are driving along Lenin Street, the shelling starts again. We park the car, get out and turn into the yard, following the arrows with the inscription "shelter", but we run into a closed basement. We wait a few minutes, but people with keys that could open the door of the shelter do not appear. To the side I notice women who hold the entrance door – it turned out that this is the only place where you can hide from shelling in this courtyard. Women wave their hands, we go in. At this moment, an explosion is heard above our head, everyone screams.
"Who is this? Our chi are not ours? the woman asks, looking out from the entrance. Many elderly residents of the Belgorod region speak Surzhik, a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian. – If with a whistle, then the Ukrainians, if just bang, then ours are beating here from the region. When with a whistle, it is more dangerous, it means that the arrival may be.
"Ours", according to local residents, put military equipment around Shebekino. Judging by the sounds, it takes off just a few kilometers from us. Last summer, military vehicles were located in the city itself – Urals and KamAZ trucks were located right on the territory of the Shebekinskaya city hospital, which resembled a large military base. The entrances to the territory were guarded by armed submachine gunners. It was possible to go there only with documents. Now the hospital is empty. After the start of intensive shelling, patients began to be taken to Belgorod. They left only the duty groups of doctors.
Another resident hurries up to our entrance. She says that in the morning she was in the garden, she had already ceased to pay attention to the “Bajas” in the sky. But “it got too loud and scary,” so she asked her son to pick her up from Shebekino. “Here, everything is at random. Kiss me good luck, the woman argues. “Of course, it used to be quieter. We didn't expect something like this."
On May 28, Governor Gladkov reported 116 shells in the Shebekinsky urban district, on May 30 there were already 215, on June 1 – a record 850, and on June 2 371 shells arrived. Both the city of Shebekino itself and the border villages of Novaya Tavolzhanka and Murom suffer. Last summer, between the villages of Murom and Arkhangelsk, the Russian military organized a large repair and technical center for military equipment. During the occupation of the Kharkov region, one could see MLRS and other combat vehicles here.
At the end of May, it was still possible to hide in the shops in the city. Almost all buildings with panoramic glazing were covered with sandbags so that the glass would not break from a projectile or blast wave and not hit people. In addition, many retail outlets have already stopped closing basements in anticipation of shelling. But a few days later the shops closed.
Now Shebekino is empty streets, broken houses and blazing roofs. Multi-apartment and private houses, office buildings were damaged, a hostel, two enterprises, and many cars burned down. There is no electricity and water in the city for several days, public transport does not run, and cellular communications do not work. Queues formed at gas stations on June 1 and 2. Entrance to the city in all directions is closed and guarded by entire brigades of the military. Until June 1, it was possible to get to Shebekino through the village of Titovka, then this road was also blocked.
“The city is empty, everything is on fire, columns of smoke, hungry dogs are running around, most likely abandoned by their owners, in search of food. It’s a terrible sight,” says a resident who left Shebekino on June 2.
“Our beautiful, clean city is now like Russian Donetsk or Mariupol in general, they sacrificed it to their adventures,” Vadim, a native of Shebekino, laments. He started his career as a doctor in the Novaya Tavolzhanka hospital, and now he is not sure that he will be able to get there again, because the city is constantly shelled, and now there are also battles with Ukrainian soldiers. “It seems to me that there will soon be no more Tavolzhanka.”
"Hostages of Shebekino"
Shebekino became the first Russian city whose residents began to be evacuated because of the war unleashed by Putin, although no one officially announced the evacuation. But due to the fact that the city was closed, for many, leaving became a real quest.
On June 1, the authorities provided buses for the export of Shebekin residents to Belgorod. But they were located outside the city, and people had to get to them on their own. Some residents walked several kilometers. The elderly and people with limited mobility remained under fire for the first day. Relatives could not pick them up, as the entrance to the city was closed. Shebekin residents created mutual aid chats in which they begged for help to take out their parents and pets.
“Take us out of the city, please, children, mother is sick. What to do??? Help someone!!!?? Please!!!" a resident of Shebekino asks in the chat. And there are dozens, if not hundreds, of such messages.
“The parents stayed at home, yesterday they could not evacuate, as there is no way to call. They don’t let them into the city, they don’t have the opportunity to leave from there <<…>> ?? there is no connection in the city, they can’t contact their parents, ”user Yulia writes in one of Shebekin’s chats.
“My aunt had a stroke yesterday afternoon. We can't wait for help. The ambulance tosses to the defense and the head. Signed up for evacuation, silence, – Maria complains in the chat. – Where have they just not addressed. They say wait. Please help me take my aunt out of Shebekino to Belgorod to receive medical care!”
One of the Belgorod volunteers who joined the evacuation, Vladimir Finogenov, said that they were not always allowed into Shebekino: on June 1, he went to Shebekino twice, but failed for the third time. Another volunteer, Yulia Nemchinova, said that some of them are not allowed out of the city by their own relatives.
“One asshole yesterday did not let his wife and two children out. We talked, explained intelligibly, today they took it out, – Yulia shares. “Today I was taking a woman, she says, unleashed the dogs, stroked the cats, said goodbye, crossed them and left. They could not reach the other woman, she was lying down, her relatives took the keys and left, locking her in the apartment. How it happened, I don't know."
An attempt to leave on their own ended in tragedy for two residents: on June 2, they came under fire and died in the area of the settlement of Maslova Pristan, this is between Shebekino and Belgorod. The people in the second car were injured.
An attempt to leave on their own ended in tragedy for two residents of Shebekino: they came under fire and died
“Residents of the village of Murom, Shebekinsky city district, have been sitting without electricity for eight days, and in neighboring Ziborovka for four days,” residents write on social networks. – The authorities are in no hurry to evacuate anyone – they accept applications and are silent. Who can – leaves on their own. There is also a lack of communication in the village from time to time.”
In chats, people ask volunteers to feed the animals left on the leash. But some are waiting for help not only for dogs and cats, but also for chickens and goats.
“Family, three adults, one child 7 years old from the Shebekinsky district, Maslova Pristan. With farm animals: 14 goats, 30 chickens, 9 medium-sized, kind dogs, 2 cats. They are forced to look for new housing, a private house, with the possibility of placing animals, ”the request for help reads.
However, there are people who find it easier to move around the region than Belgorod residents themselves, at least in the border villages – these are Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups (DRGs) and fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK). Their appearance almost does not surprise the locals.
"Not a border, but an open door"
“Our border is not just full of holes, it is open like a thong! Like cowards, but do not cover anything. It’s the same with us,” Evgeny from Belgorod does not even try to restrain his emotions. He came to the region 16 years ago from Norilsk to visit his wife's parents. The region seemed to be the best place on Earth: a big house, an excellent climate, 60 km away is Ukrainian Kharkiv. He says that they went there as if they were at home, it was cheap and convenient to fly to Europe and Asia through Ukraine. Now the couple are returning to Penza.
“Parents and children have already been sent. I had to write an application for leave at my own expense. Came straight from the factory. But I’m very scared to stay, I’d rather lose my money than my life, ”says Yevgeny’s wife.
We are standing at the exit from Shebekino at a non-working gas station of Gazprom. We ended up here by accident: the connection does not work in the region, the navigator goes crazy and instead of showing the way to Belgorod, it sends the car somewhere towards the Ukrainian border. It is three kilometers from here, next to a crossroads and a turn to Volchansk, which leads to the Shebekino automobile border checkpoint. It was here on the morning of June 1, as the media claimed, that there was an attempt to break through the border from Ukraine and a tank battle took place.
The turn to the checkpoint "Shebekino" is empty. There used to be a checkpoint here, but now it is abandoned. There were empty dugouts, an open barrier, a sign "customs control" and huge concrete triangles piled up in a heap, the so-called "Wagner's teeth". They were used to build the "Wagner Line" along the Ukrainian border. You can see it from here too. Interestingly, as relations between PMCs and the Ministry of Defense deteriorated, the “Wagner Line” in the state media changed its name and turned into the “Belgorod Security Line”.
However, fortifications made of cones, apparently, do not really interfere with penetrating the territory of the region. Formations of Russian volunteers affiliated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine post photos and videos from Russian border villages almost every day. The address is usually not provided, but in many cases it can be determined from Google Maps, especially when it comes to video from the quadcopter.
For example, a video from June 1 shows the destruction of equipment that the Russian military is allegedly hiding in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka. This is the Peschanaya street area. And the photo of the tank “with a white-blue-white flag” was taken by the “Freedom of Russia” legion at the beginning of Zarechnaya Street in the same village. From there, it is about 500 meters to the border with Ukraine, and no one settled the villages where the RDK walks. About 5,000 people live in Novaya Tavolzhanka, and all of them act as a human shield for the Russian military, Belgorod residents complain on social networks.
Residents of Novaya Tavolzhanka act as a human shield for the Russian military
Judging by the video of the Legion of Russia, Russian soldiers are hiding in the houses of residents, leaving armored vehicles and tanks near garden plots, as well as directly at residential buildings. The Russian Volunteer Corps claims that it is the Russian military who are shelling the border villages, trying to hit the positions of the RDC.
The gas station guard does not seem to be surprised by the attempts to storm the border checkpoints. According to him, Ukrainians regularly enter the region without hindrance and just as calmly return, and the Russian authorities are in no hurry to strengthen the border.
“They drive like home. Why not drive, the border is like an open door? The guard is outraged. – Recently, at dawn on a shift, I look into the distance, I see something shining in the sun a kilometer away, I looked closely, and there was a pickup truck. He turned around and started shooting, he had a machine gun or a grenade launcher installed there, I don’t know for sure. They shot, stood and then slowly moved back. They are not afraid of answers, they know that there will be no answer.
All the time while we are standing, the sounds of explosions are heard to the left and to the right. A few cars on this section accelerate to the maximum, trying to quickly pass the intersection in the direction of the city of Valuyki or Belgorod. “Something flew in,” the guard nods towards the field, white smoke rises into the air above him. And “RSChSka” arrives on the phone – this is how the locals call SMS alerts about shelling or a missile threat. In both cases, it is recommended to proceed to the shelter, but now we decide to quickly leave the open space – away from the border and the Shebekino checkpoint.
"Girls, let's not bring up the topic with conscripts"
The border with Ukraine from the Belgorod region is guarded by untrained conscripts. Periodically they die. So, on June 1, it was reported about the death of four people, including two conscripts from Yekaterinburg, they came under fire. In January, a conscript from Tyumen died , also during shelling. According to the law, conscripts are sent not to participate in hostilities, but to guard the border. On the territory of the Belgorod region there is neither a state of emergency or CTO, nor martial law. Legally, there is no war, but in fact the Belgorod border area is one of the hottest points of the conflict.
The border with Ukraine from the Belgorod region is guarded by untrained conscripts
It was the conscripts who had to face attempts to break through the border in the area of the Shebekino checkpoint and in Grayvoron. As the propaganda Z-publics “Two Majors” and “ZAPISKI VETERAN” wrote, about 20 border guards and up to 20 conscripts of the Russian Armed Forces fought in Shebekino.
“Again, there are conscripts with border guards reflecting the battle! I demand that yesterday's children be removed from the war zone! Remove the conscripts, there are already real hostilities going on!” – such messages are full of social networks of the governor of the Belgorod region. There has been no reaction yet. On the contrary, State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and chairman of the committee on family, women and children, Nina Ostanina, as if in response, called for conscripts to be sent to guard the borders. That is, in the zone of active hostilities.
The topic of conscripts in the war with Ukraine is a taboo for Russian channels. You can’t discuss this in local chats of volunteers helping the Russian military – it’s only allowed to chip in to help. All talk about the legitimacy of sending conscripts to war is suppressed.
“Girls, let's not bring up the topic with conscripts,” writes the admin of one of the chats. We have discussed it many times. We all have a lot of work to do."
There are chats in the region that specialize in helping conscripts. Their needs are the same as those of the rest of the Russian military: there are not enough hygiene products, there are no necessary tools, sometimes a generator or any equipment, binoculars, thermal imagers, sights, copters.
“Our conscripts now need T-shirts of any color and shoes. They ended up without a change of clothes, so you need to change something at least for the time of washing. And in terms of shoes, some of them are even wearing boots,” user Elena writes in the chat.
“We are sitting in the basement for the third day – Donetsk is more important for the country, unfortunately”
The silence of the state media on the situation in the region was a separate blow for Belgorod residents. While the residents of Shebekino were hiding from the shelling, the federal channels told in detail about the successes of the Russian army in the Avdiivka region – this is the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
While the residents of Shebekino were hiding from shelling, federal channels were talking about the successes of the Russian army in Ukraine
“No one cares about us. We have been sitting in the basement for the third day, the child is frightened, does not see the street. Unfortunately, Donetsk is more important for the country,” Tatyana from Shebekino complains on social networks.
“They have been watering since morning, everything is on fire. And the big channels seem to not know about the existence of Shebekino, ”user Konstantin Selivanov is indignant.
On Channel One, about a minute was devoted to mass strikes on the city on May 27. Users on the channel’s social networks began to write in the comments demands to stop hushing up the situation, but the management, in response, apparently added the word “Shebekino” to the list of obscene words. Comments mentioning the city disappeared. Resourceful users began to write "Shebekino" in Latin to bypass the filter, but in the end the comments were turned off altogether.
Belgorod social media launched flash mobs called #shebekinoetorossiya and #zashebekino to attract the attention of the federal media. “They destroyed half the city. Nobody wants to protect us. Russians, help us,” a resident writes in the chat and asks to forward her message further.
The perseverance of the Belgorod residents, apparently, worked. On federal channels, they still started talking about Shebekino, devoting more airtime to him. But it would be better, as they say, to remain silent: the Russian deputy Gurulev in the Soloviev Live program called for “choking and pecking, including Shebekino … including planning bombs”, apparently considering it a Ukrainian city. And in the political talk show "60 Minutes" on the channel "Russia-1" Putin's "experts" with a smart look could not even remember the name of the city they were talking about. They called him “Shmyakino”, then “Shimekino”.
Russian MP Gurulev called for "strangle and pound, including on Shebekino … including planning bombs"
Residents of the city, not embarrassed in expressions, expressed everything they think about the speakers in social networks.
The demonstrative dismissive attitude on the part of the state media angered even residents loyal to the authorities, who felt that the region was simply thrown, and people were mocked, hiding behind them like a human shield. Exactly how this will affect government approval ratings in the region remains to be explored. But these ratings are unlikely to rise.
Demonstrative disdain by state media angered even loyal residents
“It was funny to see how after the announcement of the mobilization, cars appeared on the streets with traces of torn off Z-stickers,” says a journalist from a Belgorod publication, Christina <name changed – The Insider> . She feels that the mobilization has affected the mood of the locals. Belgorod, where we met Christina, seems to have really changed in a year. Admins in a number of volunteer chats in the spring complained that the volume of donations had decreased. Hurray-patriotic billboards "For Putin" and "For Russia" were replaced in places with posters calling for contract service. On the doors of shops, windows of buildings in the center and in the city as a whole, the letters Z have become noticeably smaller – a year ago they were striking at every corner. Now on each house there are signs "shelter".
Do not enter the shelter without a gas mask
The shelling of Shebekino raised the question of the availability of shelters in Belgorod. Judging by the number of signs, one might think that the authorities approached the issue seriously. But it turned out that the question concerns only painting on the walls. I'm trying to find shelter in an apartment building where I rent an apartment. This is a socket on Narodny Boulevard in the center of Belgorod – last year there was shelling here, five people were killed, about 40 private houses were destroyed, more than a dozen apartment buildings were damaged. Despite everything that has happened, the landlord does not know how to get to the shelter and who has the keys to the basement.
It was not possible to find out from the neighbors either: someone advises hiding in the bathroom, and someone to run away "along with everyone else."
“Yes, you won’t have time to reach any shelter if they start shooting,” the neighbor in the yard believes. – If there is an alarm, you need to call someone on the intercom of the nearest house, they will come out to you, they will open the basement with a key. Several people have keys in our house.”
“Girl, dear, I’ll tell you directly,” the second neighbor connects. “There is such unsanitary conditions that you will die faster in the basement than from a rocket!”
After the shelling of Shebekino, the situation with shelters in Belgorod has not changed, a local journalist notes. The arrows on the houses really lead to the basement, which is locked.
The “shelter” looks like it hasn’t been opened for a long time: the door is less than a meter and a half high from below and sprinkled with earth and stones. A disgusting smell comes from the closed cellar.
Thanks to the utility worker, I still get into the "shelter", but almost immediately regret it. The neighbor turned out to be right: you can spend no more than a minute in the basement without a gas mask, exactly the time for which you can hold your breath. The utility worker who agreed to show the cellar prudently stayed outside. I think it is superfluous to write that it is physically impossible to be in this shelter. And the basement itself looks like this. There is no light in it, no water supplies in case of a long stay, no benches and no ventilation.
I'm trying to find out how things are in the neighboring yard – this is also the center of Belgorod.
“I don’t know where to run, if anything. We haven't written anything. At least there is a basement in the next one. It even said who to call to get the keys, but the inscription has faded. Well, I think that we need to run where everyone will run, ”says a local resident she met.
On the other hand, another Belgorod resident he met was very positive: he, together with his neighbors, agreed with the owners of an alcohol store in the basement of his house. The drinking establishment, according to him, has prepared and is ready to receive residents at any time.
“They brought eggplants of water, every doshirak. Well, there is always something on taps. We won’t get lost,” the man smiles.
"Evacuated from Shebekino to Shebekino." Where are residents settled?
It was Belgorod that received the bulk of the evacuated residents of Shebekino. First, they were settled in temporary accommodation centers (TAPs). Thousands of people slept shoulder to shoulder the first night – the beds were placed close together, there was no personal space, there were not enough hygiene products and baby food – they were brought by volunteers. There is approximately two square meters of space per person: the beds in TACs are very tight.
The evacuated Shebekin residents from temporary TAPs were settled in student dormitories in technical schools and Belgorod State University. To do this, however, some of the students were evicted from the hostel, and, as the students said, they had to vacate the premises at two in the morning. Students were offered rooms with cockroaches and no conditions, and those who were indignant were advised to move out.
To resettle the evacuated residents of Shebekin, Belgorod students were evicted from their hostels at two in the morning
Many residents of Shebekin still do not want to leave – and there is a reason for this: you can stay in temporary housing for a year or more, as happened with residents of the border village of Sereda in the Shebekinsky city district. He, along with two others – Zhuravlevka and Nekhoteevka – was resettled the very first, last spring. People still live in TAPs. Because of the shelling, they cannot return home, and the authorities have not allocated funds for the purchase of new housing or at least rent for a year.
In addition, PVR is not always safe. The point where people from Sereda were resettled was located near the border and eventually came under fire. The guard died. “Evacuated from Shebekino to Shebekino,” caustic comments appeared on the network. Only after that, the residents were finally taken to a relatively safe place. True, no one knows how long it will remain safe: Shebekin residents also once believed that they would not be on the front line.
The authorities could improve the situation of the inhabitants of the region by declaring a state of emergency in the region. Large families in the event of an emergency would be entitled to compensation in the amount of 15 thousand rubles, the rest – 10 thousand rubles for rent. But so far this is out of the question: the authorities continue to pretend that the border is under control and there is no war on Russian territory.