Russian air defenses have intercepted Ukrainian drones over several regions, with the local authorities in Belgorod reporting multiple injuries among civilians, as well as damage to houses and other infrastructure.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday morning that Ukraine attempted to “carry out terrorist attacks” on Russian territory using the Czech-made RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system and drones.
Officials said that air defense systems shot down 15 projectiles and one drone over Belgorod Region, with another two UAVs destroyed over Bryansk Region and three over Kursk Region.
However, the attacks resulted in at least one serious impact on the ground. At least eight people, including an 11-year-old girl, were injured in Belgorod as a result of the strikes, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. Four people were rushed to the hospital with various shrapnel wounds. The young girl was taken to a children’s hospital for treatment of a shrapnel wound in her foot.
Dozens of apartments in multi-storey buildings and a private house were damaged in the city of Belgorod, the official said. Some of the buildings suffered direct hits, with photographs of the aftermath showing extensive damage.
In some of the videos of the aftermath, cars parked next to the residential blocks are seen burning.
The Belgorod authorities have yet to establish the full scale of the damage.
The border region was targeted multiple times, with the authorities issuing air raid alerts on three separate occasions overnight. In the wider Belgorod district, residential buildings and cars were damaged as a result of strikes on the village of Dubovoe.
In a separate incident, at least six drones targeted an oil facility near Anapa in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, according to local emergency services. The attack reportedly caused some damage and triggered a fire, but resulted in no injuries.