Kiev conducted a cross-border “terrorist attack” on residential buildings in the Russian city of Belgorod using Tochka-U ballistic missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
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The capital of Belgorod Region was targeted with Tochka-U ballistic missiles and rockets from Olkha and Vampire multiple rocket launchers, the ministry reported.Six Soviet-era Tochka-U missiles, four Vampire rockets and two Olkha projectiles have been intercepted by Russian air defenses, it said.
“Fragments of one of the downed Tochka-U missiles damaged a residential building in Belgorod,” the ministry confirmed.
The Tochka-U is a mobile launch system developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Russia has phased out its use in favor of the more advanced Iskander ballistic missiles, which were introduced in the mid-2000s. However, Kiev still has Tochka-Us in its arsenal and has used them repeatedly during the conflict with Moscow.
Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said earlier that “an entire section of an apartment building - from the tenth to the first floor - collapsed as a result of a direct hit” during the Ukrainian bombardment of the city.
According to Russia’s acting health minister, Mikhail Murashko, 17 people have been hospitalized as a result of the incident.
There has so far been no official data on the number of fatalities. According to Mash, a Telegram channel, at least seven people have been killed. The rescuers have been able to extract 12 residents from the debris, but another ten could still be trapped inside, it said.
At some point, the roof of the damaged building collapsed while the rescuers were clearing the rubble underneath. A source in the governor’s office told Mash that no one was hurt in that incident, but Shot reported that an emergency worker had suffered a leg fracture and two others were lightly wounded.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has said that a criminal-terrorism case was launched following the strike on the apartment block.
Multi-story building in Belgorod partly collapses after Ukrainian strike
A high-rise apartment block in Belgorod has partially collapsed after a Ukrainian shelling of the Russian city on Sunday. Rescuers and volunteers are at the site, pulling people from the debris.
“The city of Belgorod and the Belgorod Region were subjected to a massive shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces,”Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the region bordering Ukraine, wrote on Telegram.
A criminal case on charges of terrorism has been opened following the shelling, the Russian Investigative Committee has said.
According to Gladkov, at least seven people were killed and 20, including a six-week-old baby, were wounded in the attack. More people could still be trapped under the rubble of the ten-story apartment building on Schorsa Street in the south-western part of Belgorod.
Authorities have issued another air raid alert, urging the residents of Belgorod to seek shelter. “If you are at home – do not approach the windows and take shelter in rooms with solid walls. If you are outside, seek shelter or another safe place,” the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
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