Russians die as tower toppled
An apartment block partly collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least eight people dead and 20 others injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling for the building’s destruction.
Online footage showed rescuers searching for survivors among the remnants of the building’s stairwell, then fleeing the scene as part of the roof crashed to the ground. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said eight bodies had been recovered from the rubble.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top law enforcement agency, said in a statement that the 10-storey building had been hit by Ukrainian shelling.
The Russian Defence Ministry later wrote on social media that the building had been damaged by fragments of a downed Tochka-u TRC missile. It also said air defences had shot down several more rockets over the Belgorod region, as well as two drones that were destroyed in a separate incident later Sunday.
Air raid alerts continued across Belgorod as rescuers worked. The city also came under fire Saturday evening, killing one person and wounding 29 others, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Cities across western Russia have come under regular attack from drones since May 2023, with Russian officials blaming
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 strikes. Although most cross-border shelling is seen in rural areas, attacks have also been seen on the region’s capital. In December 2023, shelling in the heart of Belgorod city killed 25 people, prompting authorities to start erecting public shelters.