An apartment building partially collapsed in the Russian border town of Belgorod on Sunday, causing at least 13 deaths and injuring 20 other people, authorities said. They blamed Ukrainian bombing for the destruction of the building.
Online footage showed rescuers searching for survivors in the remains of the building’s staircase and then fleeing the scene as part of the roof collapsed. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said 13 bodies had so far been recovered from the rubble.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top law enforcement agency, said in a statement that the 10-story building had been hit by Ukrainian shelling.
The Russian Defense Ministry later wrote on social media that the building had been damaged by fragments from a downed Tochka-U TRC missile. It also said air defenses had shot down several more rockets over the Belgorod region, as well as two drones that were destroyed in a separate incident later on Sunday.
Air raid warnings continued in Belgorod as rescuers worked. The city was also attacked on Saturday night, killing one person and wounding 29 others, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Cities across western Russia have been subject to regular drone attacks since May 2023, and Russian officials blame kyiv. Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory or the Crimean peninsula.
The Belgorod region, on Russia’s western border, has been the target of a large number of attacks. Although most cross-border bombings occur in rural areas, attacks have also occurred in the regional capital. In December 2023, a bombing in the heart of the city of Belgorod killed 25 people, prompting authorities to begin building public shelters.
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