May 12, MOSCOW (Reuters) – According to Russian officials, a section of a Russian apartment building fell on Sunday, resulting from the impact of missile fragments from a Soviet-era missile that was launched by Ukraine and shot down by Russia, causing at least nine fatalities and twenty injuries.

Adler and RM-70 Vampire (MLRS) multiple launch rocket systems, along with Tochka ballistic missiles, were used by Ukraine in what Russian officials described as a huge missile offensive, resulting in one of the bloodiest attacks on the Belgorod region to date.

At least ten stories of the skyscraper could be seen crumbling on the footage from the scene. Later, when rescue workers searched through the debris for survivors, the roof fell, sending people running for their life with debris and dust trailing behind them.

Attackers used at least 12 missiles, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry, which described the operation as a “terrorist attack on residential areas” that began at 08:40 GMT.
“Fragments of one of the downed Tochka-U missiles damaged an apartment building in the city of Belgorod,” according to the ministry.

According to Russia’s Interfax, 20 people were hurt and nine people died. Among the missing was at least one child. Rocket sirens went sounded while rescuers combed through the debris.

Despite the fact that both Russia and Ukraine claim they do not target people, both sides of the conflict have claimed many civilian casualties.
President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the attack, according to the Kremlin, which called it “barbaric”. According to Russia’s foreign ministry, it is illegal to target civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Russian forces broke through the border in recent days after heavily pounding the northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine. They claim to have driven away Ukrainian military from at least nine communities in the area.

The action has compelled Ukraine to commit more soldiers to the area at a time when Russian forces are making significant advances along the front in the east and south, and it also poses a threat of creating a new front.

In the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, Russian troops claimed to have taken control of four more villages on Sunday: Hatyshche, Krasne, Morokhovets, and Oliinykove.

According to Russian military bloggers, Russia was encircling Ukrainian fortifications with small, highly mobile units of troops after using its numerical advantage to press forcefully into comparatively undefended areas.

The military chief of Ukraine stated that although battle in the Kharkiv region was challenging, their soldiers were making every effort to hold the line.

In March, Putin hinted that Moscow would attempt to create a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory in reaction to strikes on Belgorod by the Ukrainian government. Ukraine was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

After a pro-Russian president was overthrown in the Maidan Revolution in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, sparking a battle between Russian-backed separatist rebels and Ukraine’s military forces in the east of the country.

3,106 civilians were among the approximately 14,000 persons who perished there between 2014 and the end of 2021, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).