Russian air defenses shoot down second Ukrainian missile
A second Ukrainian missile has been shot down in the Azov area, Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev announced on Friday. He said the consequences of the incident were still being assessed.
Videos emerging on social media suggest that the Ukrainian rocket failed to reach any residential areas and was shot down over the outskirts of the city of Azov.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed that the “Kiev regime made a second attempt at a terrorist attack” using a modified anti-aircraft missile of the S-200 air defense system that was converted for offensive purposes.
The ministry said the missile had been intercepted by Russian air defense systems near the city of Azov, with fragments of the projectile falling in a deserted area.
Russia’s southern region of Rostov has been the target of several Ukrainian missile strikes over the course of Friday. Earlier in the day, Russian air defense systems shot down a missile over the city of Taganrog, with missile debris crashing into the city center.
According to Governor Golubev, a total of 12 people were injured in the attack, 9 of which have been hospitalized. One woman suffered a craniocerebral injury and has already undergone surgery. There are no children among the victims, the official said.
Golubev also reported that the epicenter of the strike fell on the Taganrog Art Museum. He noted that the wall of the museum, the roof, garages and outbuildings were destroyed in the attack, which also broke the windows and balconies of a neighboring residential building.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has condemned the Kiev regime’s “criminal actions,” which she said had been “directed against the civilian population and peaceful infrastructure,” and “obviously had no military meaning.”
“We call on the international community and organizations to condemn the use of terrorist methods by the Ukrainian authorities,” Zakaharova wrote, warning that “the Russian side reserves the right to take strong retaliatory measures.”
