Russia Prepares Defenses for Supposed Attack from Ukraine

Russian media has reported that Kremlin authorities are preparing bomb shelters with specially equipped hospital operating rooms close by. At the same time, the Kursk and Belgorod regions bordering Ukraine have started to construct fortifications.

On Oct. 20, according to Russian media agency Verstka, municipal staff of Moscow city were instructed to prepare bomb shelters. This was reported by representatives of the municipal company Zhilishchnik, which maintains housing and utility services for most of Moscow’s homes.

Nikolai Bobrinsky, a former municipal deputy for the Ramenka district of Moscow, wrote on Facebook that basements of residential buildings in the capital city are being equipped as “temporary accommodation shelters” or “bomb shelters.”

On Oct. 23, Russian media site SOTA reported, quoting a Moscow medical source, that Moscow hospitals were equipping operating theatres adjacent to bomb shelters – a directive circulated by the Moscow Health Department. The department itself has denied this information.

In the Kursk and Belgorod regions of Russia bordering Ukraine, construction of fortifications has begun in case of a “Ukrainian offensive.”

On Oct. 22, the first information about preparations for a “Ukrainian attack” on the Russian border came from the Belgorod region administration, where anti-tank barriers made of concrete blocks have been built, and trenches dug.

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On Oct. 24, the governor of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation followed suit when he confirmed that the region was actively preparing for defense and that two lines of fortifications had already been built, with a third on the way.

“The work was carried out jointly with the Russian Ministry of Defense and the border administration for the Kursk region. The third line will be ready by Nov. 5. We are ready to repel any encroachments on our territory,” the governor of the Kursk region stated.