BELGOROD. May 23 (Interfax) -The authorities are now bringing the residents of several populated localities in the Graivoron urban area of Russia's Belgorod region, who were evacuated for security reasons on Tuesday, back to their homes, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
"Graivoron and Golovchino: residents have returned to their homes. And we will take the residents of Gora-Podol, Glotovo and Kozinka back home in a centralized manner soon," Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
He also described the current situation in the villages abandoned by residents.
"Gennady Bondarev [head of the Graivoron area administration] and I have visited three villages, specifically Gora-Podol, Glotovo and Kozinka. Most of the residents were evacuated earlier. Those who stayed put were strongly opposed to evacuation. I have talked to them. Mainly, they are elderly people, naturally. I suggested they go to the hospital, but they said [they cannot because of] their households, apartments, everything is all right. They were reluctant [to go anywhere]. They have experienced a horrific event but decided they'd better not leave home," he said.
The authorities are organizing food delivery to the area, he said.
"We already delivered food there today. Food will be delivered under the control of the [Graivoron] district head tomorrow morning. Work has begun to restore power supply. Electricity supply should be restored after 3 p.m. tomorrow, and mobile phone communications and water supply will be restored altogether. All the specialists are on site, we are working," Gladkov said.
Work will not be conducted during the night, he said.
"Tomorrow, we are going to begin a door-to-door inspection of the territory, many residential buildings and cars have been destroyed. We will try to restore everything swiftly," he said.
Some Graivoron residents currently remain in temporary shelters located in other municipalities inside the Belgorod region.
"Graivoron residents and people living in neighboring villages are still staying in Stary Oskol, in the Yakovlevo area, in the Ivnya and Rakitnoye districts. As soon as the military permits us, we will bring residents back to their own homes immediately," the Belgorod governor said.