UKR. ‘ERR-STRIKE’?
Russ. says Kyiv hit its own bldg.
Russia claims an airstrike by Kyiv’s forces hit an apartment complex in Russian-occupied Ukraine on Sunday, killing at least nine — following allegations that the Kremlin also has been accidentally bombing the area.
In one of the deadliest attacks of the war in the Belgorod region, Ukraine allegedly launched Tochka ballistic missiles and other weapons at “residential areas of the city of Belgorod,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
Russia’s air-defense system took out 12 of the missiles, but “fragments” of one of the missiles fell on the apartment complex, killing at least nine people and injuring 20, including two children, according to Moscow and its Belgorod governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
‘Terrorist attack’
Footage from the strike shows nearly a dozen stories of the building collapsing in the fiery blast.
After first responders arrived to search for survivors, the roof over the destroyed area also collapsed and sent debris crashing down on them. Three rescuers were injured, according to Russia state news agency RIA Novosti.
Kyiv has not commented on Russia’s claim about the strike, which the ministry labeled a “terrorist attack.”
Moscow has been accused of hitting civilian areas in Belgorod with its own errant airstrikes on May 4, part of a series of friendly-fire incidents plaguing Russian-occupied cities.
An analysis from the UK Ministry of Defense found that the May 4 strike wounded five people and damaged 30 homes and 10 cars.
The UK report also claimed that there were up to 20 “lost munitions accidentally dropped in the Belgorod region” in March and April alone.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians, despite civilian casualties on both sides.