According to Russian officials, a piece of a Russian apartment building fell on Sunday, resulting from the impact of missile fragments from a Soviet-era missile that was launched by Ukraine and shot down by Russia, causing at least 15 fatalities and 20 injuries.
In what Russian sources described as a huge missile strike, Ukraine launched Adler and RM-70 Vampire (MLRS) multiple launch rocket systems together with Tochka ballistic missiles, in one of the worst attacks on the Belgorod area to date.
At least ten stories of the skyscraper could be seen crumbling on the footage from the site. Later, while rescue workers searched through the debris for survivors, the roof fell, sending people running for their life with debris and dust trailing behind them.
Attackers used at least 12 missiles, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry, which described the operation as a “terrorist attack on residential areas” that began at 08:40 GMT.
“Fragments of one of the downed Tochka-U missiles damaged an apartment building in the city of Belgorod,” according to the ministry.
Early on Monday, Russia’s emergency ministry said that fifteen people had died. 20 individuals were reported hurt, and at least one child was listed as missing, according to Russian news outlets. Rocket sirens went sounded while rescuers combed through the debris.
Russia and Ukraine both deny that they aim their missiles at people, which Russia fired at its smaller neighbor in February 2022. Millions have been homeless, many have died, and Ukrainian cities have been reduced to ruins by the conflict.
President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the incident, according to the Kremlin, which called it “barbaric”. According to Russia’s foreign ministry, it is illegal to attack civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine did not immediately respond. According to Kyiv, attacking Russia’s energy, transportation, and military infrastructure is a response to Moscow’s numerous lethal strikes and undercuts Moscow’s war effort.
The Kharkov Front
Russian soldiers broke across the border in recent days after heavily pounding the northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine. They claim to have driven away Ukrainian military from at least nine communities in the area.
The action has compelled Ukraine to commit more soldiers to the region at a time when Russian forces are making significant advances along the front in the east and south, and it also poses a threat of creating a new front.
In the Kharkiv area of Ukraine, Russian soldiers claimed to have taken control of four more villages on Sunday: Hatyshche, Krasne, Morokhovets, and Oliinykove.
According to Russian military bloggers, Russia was encircling Ukrainian fortifications with tiny, highly mobile groups of troops after using its numerical advantage to press forcefully into comparatively undefended areas.
The military leader of Ukraine stated that although battle in the Kharkiv region was challenging, his soldiers were making every effort to maintain the position.
In March, Putin hinted that Moscow would attempt to create a buffer zone within Ukrainian territory in reaction to strikes on Belgorod by the Ukrainian government.
After a pro-Russian president was overthrown in the Maidan Revolution in 2014, Russia invaded Crimea, sparking a battle between Russian-backed separatist rebels and Ukraine’s military forces in the east of the country.
3,106 civilians were among the approximately 14,000 persons who perished there between 2014 and the end of 2021, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
