Apartment building hit during Ukrainian shelling of Russian city – mayor

An apartment block has been hit and damaged during the Ukrainian shelling of the Russian city of Belgorod, Mayor Anton Ivanov has said.

“Air defenses had to be activated today again. There’s damage to a building on Gubkina Street,” he wrote on Telegram on Thursday.

The mayor later announced that around 12.40pm local time an unidentified object crashed into the roof of an apartment block as a result of operations involving the air defense systems.

The residents of the affected building have been evacuated, he said, adding that no casualties have yet been reported following the incident.

Images on social media have shown smoke coming from the roof of an apartment block and rubble scattered on the ground.

Some reports have suggested that debris from an incoming projectile or drone may have fallen on the building after being struck by the air defense systems.

Belgorod, which has a population of some 356,000, is the main city of Russia’s Belgorod Region.

It’s among the border regions that have come under repeated Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks since the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in late February.