Russia Says Five Killed, 46 Injured in Ukraine Strike on Belgorod

Date: 31 August 2024 - 22:15

News ID: ۱۳۰۹۹۷

MOSCOW (Reuters/AFP) – Five people were killed and 46 injured in a Ukrainian attack on the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod late on Friday, the local governor said, the latest in a series of strikes by Ukraine on the city in recent months.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said 37 of the injured, including seven children, were taken to hospitals in the city, which lies 40 km (25 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.
Video filmed from inside a vehicle, posted on social media and purporting to show the attack, showed a car being blown up while moving along a road. Seconds later another explosion is seen meters away. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.
“Once again we call on all responsible governments and relevant international structures to strongly condemn this brutal terrorist attack and publicly distance themselves from the Kyiv regime and its Western curators who commit such crimes,” it said on Saturday.
The ministry added that Russia’s special military operation will continue until it reaches all the goals including Ukraine’s “demilitarization and de-nazification”.
Russia’s Investigation Committee said on its Telegram channel that it had initiated a criminal case into the attack.
Authorities also reported that a woman was injured on Saturday during Ukrainian shelling of the border town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region.
The Russian defense ministry said on Saturday that Russian forces have gained control of the Kirove settlement, known in Ukraine as Verezamske, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Russia has been making incremental gains in the region at a time when Ukrainian troops seek to advance in Russia’s Kursk region after a surprise cross-border attack that began on Aug. 6.
Separately, the defense ministry said in a bulletin about developments in Russia’s Kursk region that its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks there, including toward settlements of Korenevo and Malaya Loknya.
Russian officials have said Kyiv’s attack on the Kursk region will fail to divert Russian forces away from the east of Ukraine where they are still advancing.
The officials also say Ukraine’s foray into Russian territory will ensnare thousands of its troops in a new front which has little strategic or tactical importance.
In another development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed his air force chief after one of the country’s F-16 fighter jets crashed while repelling a Russian air attack, killing the pilot, Oleksiy Mes.
“We need to protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers,” Zelensky said in an address.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday dismissed the country’s air force chief, a day after Kyiv said a U.S.-made F-16 fighter jet had crashed in combat, killing the pilot.
In a video message Zelensky said he had “decided to replace the commander of the air force” to strengthen Ukraine’s military leadership.
His office earlier published a presidential decree to officially remove Mykola Oleshchuk from the post.
The crash of the F-16  was a high-profile setback for Kyiv, which had lobbied the West to send the advanced fighter jet for months.
Ukraine has staged frequent attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions in recent months, with the city the focal point of the attacks.
Ukraine and Russia say they do not deliberately target civilians in the war that began when Russia sent thousands of troops into its smaller neighbor in February 2022.