Belgorod Pleads for Officials to Act as Ukrainian Strikes Intensify Infrastructure Failures

A heavy Ukrainian missile attack on Russia's Belgorod region this week has fueled frustration among residents, many of whom accuse regional authorities of failing to restore basic services quickly enough after the repeated strikes.

The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has endured over four years of drone, missile and artillery attacks since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

This week’s attack damaged energy infrastructure and disrupted electricity and water supplies across parts of the regional capital of Belgorod and several municipalities, local authorities said.

“No one will hear us or our pleas…We are living in hell every single day,” local resident Yekaterina Goryacheva wrote in a post addressing the region’s authorities on the VK social media site.

Acting Belgorod Governor Alexander Shuvayev, a native of the region and military veteran who fought in the invasion of Ukraine, took office in May after the departure of popular former Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

"Dear acting governor, how can people live in these conditions?" local resident Tatyana Bogacheva wrote in a comment addressed to Shuvayev.

"Why did you agree to come to our region as its leader? Just to tell us how many missiles and drones hit us or flew over our region? We can see that ourselves,” she said. “To list the number of dead and wounded? That's us — we're the ones being killed and maimed. This has been going on for five years.”

Shuvayev said at least four civilians had been killed in the shelling as of Wednesday, while authorities recorded over 230 attacks across the region.

The strikes also damaged a local gas pipeline operations hub, independent local news outlet Pepel reported, disrupting gas supplies for some of Belgorod city’s 320,000 residents as well as across the wider region.

One Belgorod resident has died every 14 hours since the start of the war, Pepel said, adding that it had identified 2,836 residents of the region who were killed.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian drones targeted the village of Tavrovo, killing one person and injuring six civilians, Shuvayev said.

Ukraine also struck bridges used to supply Russian troops operating in the Kharkiv direction, Pepel reported. Some residents of nearby villages said they have been cut off from larger towns because of damaged roads.

Parts of the city of Belgorod have also experienced water outages following Tuesday’s attacks.

The city’s water utility said crews were continuing to repair damage to the water supply network caused by the recent shelling, noting that all water intake facilities and pumping stations were operating normally.

It said repeated attacks had damaged water infrastructure and led to a sharp increase in ruptures across the city's water network, adding that some residents remained temporarily without running water.

Yet some residents complained that they had been without running water for days.

"Why are people treated this way? We've been without both hot and cold water for the second day," resident Tatyana L. wrote on Shuvayev’s VK page.

"I understand that it was an emergency…. But doesn't our building need water too? Is there really no way to provide residents with water? Under the law, the water supply should have been restored yesterday. Who will be held responsible for this, and when will our water be turned back on?" she said.

Some residents have also questioned whether the military was doing enough to protect the region.

“What actions will be taken?” resident Vladimir Belyayev wrote on VK.

“Or will you only count the dead and wounded on social media? There is no response to drone attacks — they are flying around as if they own the place,” he said.