BELGOROD, June 1. /TASS/. No urgent mass evacuation of residents from the Shebekino district of Russia’s Belgorod Region bordering Ukraine is underway and such reports are fake news, Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
"Fake news is being spread in the media about gathering places for the urgent evacuation of Shebekino district residents. Presently, it is both impossible and unsafe to gather people en masse in a particular place," the governor said.
The regional authorities are ready to provide assistance to people leaving the city and accommodate them at temporary accommodation centers, for example, at the Belgorod Arena, Gladkov said.
"Those who cannot get to the place on their own, please, apply to the district’s administration," the governor added.
The regional crisis center reported that residents had begun receiving phone calls from alleged territorial defense authorities with a request to leave the Belgorod Region.
"These are fake calls. The territorial self-defense authorities operational in the Belgorod Region do not make phone calls to local residents. These calls are being made by the enemy with the aim of causing panic among Belgorod Region residents. We urge to trust only official information from reliable sources," the crisis center said.