Four people were killed in a rocket attack on Belgorod, the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said. Four more were injured, one of whom was a child.
The Russian Defense Ministry later explained that Ukraine had launched a “deliberate strike” with Tochka-U missiles with cluster munitions on residential areas of Belgorod, air defense systems shot them down, but the wreckage of one of the missiles fell on a residential building.
“According to the information I have at the moment, four people were killed. One of them is a citizen of the Russian Federation, three are citizens of Ukraine. That is, the government of Ukraine is killing Ukrainian citizens on the territory of the Russian Federation and this is the absolute cynicism that Ukraine has achieved in its actions,” Gladkov said in his Telegram channel.
In addition, 21 apartment buildings and 40 private houses were damaged as a result of the strike. Now the local authorities are assessing the damage. They will take on the costs of restoring the destroyed buildings. Those who need it will be provided with temporary accommodation.
“Contractors will carry out all necessary measurements and begin restoration work. I will remove residential buildings from control only when a confirmation is received from residents that everything has been restored and there are no complaints about the quality [of the restoration] ,” the governor assured.
He added that the administration will make payments to the wounded and the families of the victims, which is expected to be done by the end of next week. The wounded will be paid 500 thousand rubles each from the regional budget and, at their request, will be sent to a sanatorium. Relatives of the deceased Russians will receive 3 million rubles from the reserve fund.
Belgorod is located around 40 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border. According to the Defense Ministry Spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, Ukraine had also sent two Tu-143 Reys drones, “loaded with explosives,” towards Kursk, another Russian city close to the border. He said both drones were destroyed by air defenses before reaching the city. Konashenkov said that Ukraine targeted residential areas, which had “no military sites.”
The Russian authorities have repeatedly accused Ukraine of shelling cities and villages close to the border. Moscow previously warned that it would hit Ukrainian “decision-making centers, including Kiev” if attacks on Russian territory did not stop.
Ru-Main, 04.07.2022
Source: Interfax
