US-made missiles destroyed over western Russia – Moscow
Four US-made AGM-88 HARM aircraft-fired anti-radar missiles have been shot down over Russia’s Belgorod Region, which shares a border with Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday.
It added that Russian air defenses in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye Region also intercepted six rockets fired by US-made HIMARS launchers and Soviet-designed Uragan systems.
The news came after Ukrainian troops shelled the city of Belgorod and other areas in the eponymous region on Sunday, killing one person and injuring ten others, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
He wrote on his Telegram channel that 75 residential and industrial buildings were damaged, as well as around 40 cars.
Gladkov said that the shelling continued on Monday, leaving around 14,000 residents in the city of Shebekino without power. He added that two more people were wounded overnight.
Belgorod and other Russian regions that share a border with Ukraine have repeatedly come under attack after Moscow launched a military operation in the neighboring state in late February.
Several US news organizations reported last week that the Pentagon was finalizing plans to supply Kiev with MIM-104 Patriot air defense missile systems. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded by saying that, if delivered, the systems would be treated as legitimate targets for Russian troops.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti cited an investigation document on Friday as saying that drones used to attack the country’s Belgorod, Kursk and Voronezh Regions, as well as Crimea, contained parts manufactured by US firm SpektreWorks.
The Times quoted a US defense source last week as saying that the Pentagon quietly greenlit long-range strikes on Russian territory. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken previously maintained that the White House was not encouraging attacks on Russian soil.
