MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. The number of the Ukrainian military’s shelling attacks on Russia’s borderline Belgorod Region has increased 1.5-fold since the beginning of the year, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said.

"The Ukrainian armed forces provoked a major rise in tensions in the Belgorod area. The number of shelling attacks on civilian facilities there has increased 1.5-fold since the beginning of the year, while casualties have risen seven-fold," he specified.

Miroshnik pointed out that the peak of escalation in the Belgorod and Kursk regions "stemmed directly from [the enemy’s] desire to intimidate civilians both ahead of the [Russian] presidential election and during the vote count." "Sixteen civilians were killed and eight suffered injuries in the Belgorod Region in the pre-election week alone," he added.