At least 17 people were injured after a Ukrainian missile struck a residential building in the western Russian city of Belgorod, Russian authorities said Sunday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile hit a “residential district” in the city after it was intercepted by air defense systems.
It was not immediately possible to verify the Defense Ministry’s claim.
“Seventeen injured people have been sent to medical centers,” Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko was quoted as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said 12 people, including two children, had been rescued from the rubble.
Belgorod region Governor Viacheslav Gladkov posted a video to Telegram showing a collapsed building.
“Following direct shell fire on a residential building… the entire entrance, from the tenth to the ground floor, collapsed,” Gladkov said, condemning what he called “massive bombings” by the Ukrainian military.
The Emergency Situations Ministry warned the number of victims could rise after part of the building roof caved in just as rescuers were searching for survivors.
One resident told RIA Novosti she was in a building corridor when an explosion went off and her husband was in a bedroom.
“He did not have time [to escape],” the woman was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Belgorod has been regularly targeted by Ukrainian drone and missile attacks since Moscow launched its full-scaler invasion in February 2022.
