Thousands of Russians were forced to flee Shebekino, Belgorod near the Ukrainian border following artillery fire of unprecedented intensity, according to AFP.

A resident from the city of Shebekino, a city of 40,000 in Russia's Belgorod region located near the Ukrainian border, said: "We left Shebekino because we were shelled so hard that the windows shattered."

AFP reported that the conflict now fully affects certain Russian border regions, above all Belgorod, which in recent weeks saw an extraordinary incursion by armed groups claiming to be Russians fighting for Kyiv (though the Ukrainian authorities deny responsibility).