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Russian air defenses have intercepted several Ukrainian drones over several regions, with local authorities in Belgorod reporting multiple injuries among civilians as well as damage to houses and other infrastructure.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday morning that Ukraine attempted to “carry out terrorist attacks” using the Czech-made RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system and drone on the country’s territory.
Officials said that Russian 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 a serious impact on the ground in Belgorod Region. 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 victims were rushed to a hospital with various shrapnel wounds, while the girl, injured with shrapnel in her left foot, has been taken to a specialized children’s hospital.
Dozens of flats in 19 multi-story buildings and one 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 and destroyed sections of walls. Others showed numerous blown out windows and broken glass littering the ground outside.
In some of the footage of the aftermath, cars parked next to the residential blocks could be seen burning. Nine of at least 37 vehicles damaged in Belgorod overnight burned out completely, according to the city mayor Valentin Demidov.
Belgorod authorities have yet to establish the full scale of the damage.
The border region was targeted multiple times, with authorities issuing air raid alerts on three separate occasions overnight. In the wider Belgorod district, four residential buildings and three cars took damage as a result of the 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 at the facility and triggered a fire, but resulted in no injuries.
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