Russia accused Kyiv of firing three missiles at the city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border in strikes that killed at least four people on Sunday. “Russian anti-aircraft defences shot down three Tochka-U cluster missiles launched by Ukrainian nationalists against Belgorod,” said Russia’s defence ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov.
After the destruction of the Ukrainian missiles, the debris of one of them fell on a house. Konashenkov said that the Russian army had also shot down two Ukrainian TU-143 drones “loaded with explosives” that had been heading towards the city of Kursk, also close to the Ukrainian border.
Earlier, the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, had said that at least four people were killed and four injured in a series of “strong explosions” that rocked the city in the early hours of Sunday. Eleven residential buildings and 39 houses were damaged in the explosions which occurred in the early hours, he said on Telegram.
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As reported by AFP, Gladkov said he visited the site soon after the explosions, which hit five streets to the north of the city centre. Two of the injured — a man and a child — were hospitalised, while the other two were treated at the scene, he said.
Since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Russia has repeatedly accused Kyiv of conducting strikes on Russian soil, particularly in the Belgorod region. At the beginning of April, Gladkov accused Ukraine of attacking a fuel depot in the city with two helicopters.
(with inputs from agencies)
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