Six people, including a one-year-old girl, died in an attack Ukrainian missile attack today Thursday in the city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine.
Another 17 people, including four children, were hospitalized with injuries, six of them in serious condition.
Belgorod is the closest major Russian city to the Ukrainian border, and both the city and the surrounding region have been subject to frequent attacks since February 2022, when Russia has begun its invasion of Ukrainecalling it a «special military operation».
According to what was stated in the afternoon by the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkovtwo of the children have already been discharged to receive outpatient treatment.
The deceased little girl, just one year old, was called Valentina. The woman pushing the stroller also died. She apparently she was her grandmother. “We all mourn with the families and friends of the victims,” Gladkov wrote on Telegram. «I want to express my deepest condolences, knowing that there are no words that can console this pain.»
The Russian Defense Ministry assures that its air defense systems have been shot down 14 missiles Ukrainians about this region.
The Belgorod area is punished frequently. According to Russian authorities, 25 civilians were killed in the largest of these attacks in late December. It was the deadliest attack on a Russian city since the war began on February 24, 2022.
Poor anti-aircraft protection
The region, very close to the front, has little anti-aircraft protection compared to other more remote areas such as Sochi, where one of the residences of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is located. In some cases, residents have reported that authorities refuse to report the locations of shelters.
The Russian Ministry of Health sent a team of medical specialists from federal centers to Belgorod. A video posted on social media showed a small supermarket of the Russian Magnit chain with almost all its windows shattered. The same look was offered by the neighboring apartments. Meanwhile, rescuers rushed to help the injured at an outdoor sports complex, which was also damaged.
The governor of the neighboring Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said a shopping mall, an outdoor sports facility and residential areas were attacked there. “The enemy is deliberately attacking groups of civilians,” she said in statements reported by Reuters. There was no immediate comment from Kiev on the attacks.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mara Zacharovahe described the events as a «act of terrorism by the Kiev regime» on Telegram and said Russia would take the case to the United Nations Security Council.