MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - Russia needs to move ahead in the special military operation to guarantee the safety and security of its territory, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said on Thursday.
"Without moving ahead, it appears we can't physically guarantee this security. Therefore, along with our military and our army, we look forward to success," Gladkov told journalists.
There is no alternative to moving the line of contact farther away from Russia's borders, he said.
Asked about the reconstruction of housing properties of local residents destroyed or damaged by gunfire, Gladkov replied, "In the past two and a half years, we've had 18,000 [properties] destroyed, and we've practically reconstructed 16,000 of them by now. But destruction continues every day, and reconstruction continues every day, too," he said.
The local administration keeps the problem under its control and considers each particular case settled only after the owner of a reconstructed dwelling signs an acceptance certificate, an approach that has gained the local population's support, Gladkov said.