Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov put forward a proposal for the annexation of Kharkiv to Russia during his appearance on the Vesti Nedeli news program on May 29. In his view, this action would solve the persistent issue of shelling in the Belgorod region.
During an interview with a journalist from the pro-government channel Rossiya 24, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov of the Belgorod region was questioned about effective measures to halt the shelling of the region. In response, the official suggested the potential annexation of Kharkiv to Russia as a solution.
According to Gladkov, there have been five instances of Ukrainian military infiltration into the Belgorod region since the beginning of the war. The most recent attack by armed forces took place on May 22 in the Graivoron district, which shares a border not with the Kharkiv region but with Ukraine's Sumy region. However, the governor did not explicitly specify whether annexation was necessary in this particular case.
Governor Gladkov had previously expressed his intentions regarding the Kharkiv region back in June 2022. He envisioned Kharkiv becoming a "suburb of Belgorod." However, three months later, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a successful offensive in the Kharkiv direction, reclaiming a significant portion of the region from Russian military control.
