The city of Belgorod, separated from Ukraine's Kharkiv by just a hundred kilometers by road, is the Russian city that suffers the most from the war unleashed against the neighboring country and today it has suffered again.
A wave of missiles against this strategic region this Thursday resulted in the death of at least six people and 17 injuries, most of them hit while they were in a shopping center, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Health.
Russian authorities have blamed Ukrainian forces for the bombing.
It is unknown whether the projectile that destroyed the first floor of the Plekhanov Street establishment turned out to be a direct hit or the fragment of a rocket shot down in the air.
The Ministry of Defense has reported that its defenses have intercepted 14 projectiles fired by a Ukrainian RM-70 Vampire multiple missile launcher.
This is the second major aggression suffered by Belgorod since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. On December 30, another attack killed 25 people and injured more than a hundred.
The offensive by Ukrainian forces responded to a wave of Russian bombings in the neighboring country.
Likewise, the province of the same name has been the scene of some militia incursions, such as those carried out by battalions of Russian opponents of the Kremlin in the spring of 2023.
Among the victims this Thursday is a baby, while four other children have been injured, according to data provided by the Ministry of Health.
The Shot news channel has detailed that it was shrapnel that killed the four-month-old girl when she was riding in a stroller carried by her grandmother, who was 60 years old and who was injured, next to a school.
After noon, the governor of the region, Viacheslav Gladkov, reported a new anti-aircraft alarm.
“If you are at home, stay away from the windows.
Take shelter in rooms without windows and with solid walls (hallway, bathroom, toilet, pantry).
If you are outside, go to a shelter or another safe place,” he warned as on other occasions.
Shrapnel and blast from the explosions also slightly damaged seven houses and five blocks of buildings, especially windows, and several cars.
Two hours later, at 2:30 p.m., Gladkov announced the end of the anti-aircraft alarm.
Moscow assures that it will take this Thursday's tragedy to international institutions.
The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, María Zajárova, who called the attack “a terrorist act,” announced through her social networks that Moscow will present the bombing for debate in the UN Security Council.
Home damaged by shrapnel and the shock wave of the explosions, this Thursday in Belgorod.AP
Russian offensive in Ukraine
A few hours earlier, during the night, the Russian army attacked several regions of Ukraine with a total of 26 missiles, half of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, as reported by the Ukrainian Air Force, Efe reports. .
Among other types of projectiles, Russia used 14 cruise missiles and six Iskander-M ballistic missiles in the attack that were fired from the air and from the sea.
One of the targets of the missiles has been the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, where a projectile has hit an electrical substation.
Three people have been injured, according to local authorities.
Other missiles were aimed at the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, where air defenses have destroyed all the projectiles that have reached the region.
Fragments from some intercepted missiles have caused material damage in residential areas of the province.
Missiles have also fallen in the regions of Poltava (center), Ivano-Frankivsk (west) and Zaporizhia (southeast), where city infrastructure has been hit.
Ukrainian media have also reported explosions in the city of Dnipro (center).
View of the damage suffered by the Belgorod shopping center where a Ukrainian rocket hit this Thursday at noonSTRINGER (REUTERS)
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