MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Two people were killed and at least 19 others got wounded in the Ukrainian attack on Belgorod and the Belgorod Region on Thursday, local officials said.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that yet another Ukrainian attempt to break through into the Russian borderline region was disrupted, with Kiev losing almost 200 troops and 15 pieces of equipment there.
TASS brings you a compilation of updates about the situation.
Nightly alert, Thursday morning’s attacks
- Air raid alert was declared in the Belgorod Region at 3:38 a.m. Moscow time (0:38 a.m. GMT - TASS), while Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported about the first attack at 4:01 a.m. Moscow time (1:01 a.m. GMT) as two Ukrainian drones struck the village of Prokhorovka.
- According to the Defense Ministry, 11 drones were destroyed over the region last night.
- At 8:56 a.m. Moscow time (5:56 a.m. GMT), Gladkov said that eight aerial targets had been destroyed near Belgorod.
- The driver of a passenger car was killed in the attack, with two men and four women being injured. Two people are currently in intensive care in serious condition at a regional clinical hospital.
- Two upper floors and the roof of a health facility were damaged in the attack. Also, 11 private homes and 53 cars were scarred.
Daytime shelling
- At 1:11 p.m. Moscow time (10:11 a.m. GMT), Gladkov reported another drone attack. According to the governor, 10 aerial targets were downed near Belgorod.
- The new attack left a woman killed, and three people were hospitalized. Damage was reported at eight residential blocks and three private households.
- At 4:33 p.m., the governor once again warned residents of Belgorod and the Belgorod Region about a missile threat. One hour later, he said that 11 airborne targets were downed.
- Two people sustained shrapnel wounds during the third attack in 24 hours
Regions under attack
- Ukrainian drones attacked a number of settlements in the Belgorod Region. In particular, a man was lightly injured in a drone attack in Graivoron. Also, several flats and a private household were damaged.
- Three children sustained minor wounds in the settlement of Belovskoye. They did not seek hospitalization though.
- In addition, two households were damaged in the settlement of Pokrovka (Ivnyansky District), and one household was damaged in Nizhny Olshanets and in Razumnoye (Belgorodsky District) each.
- Later, Gladkov announced that a car was attacked by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone on the road in the settlement of Glotovo, Graivoronovsky District, adding that tow people were injured in the attack.
- Four people were injured after another shelling of Graivoron.
Reaction of the authorities
- The authorities suspended operation of shopping malls in Belgorod until the end of the day; their operation in the next few days will depend on the operational situation.
- The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case over the facts of death and injury, caused by the Ukrainian attacks at the Belgorod Region.
- Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and international human rights organizations to condemn the Ukrainian attacks on civilians.
Failed breakthrough
- Russian forces thwarted another attempt by the Ukrainian military to break through into Russia’s border area near the settlement of Spodaryushino in the Belgorod Region, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters.
- Kiev sustained roughly 195 casualties and lost five tanks, four armored combat vehicles, three UR-77 mine clearance vehicles and three engineering obstacle removers.
Situation in borderline areas
- A number of Russian regions, including the Belgorod Region, have been subject to massive Ukrainian drone strikes in the past few days. In addition, in a March 12 attack, Kiev used the Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile for the first time since January.
- Also on March 12, another attempt by Ukrainian forces to break through into the Belgorod and Kursk regions was thwarted. The Russian Defense Ministry said 234 Ukrainian troops were killed, losing 12 tanks and armored vehicles, including three Bradley fighting vehicles.
- Two dozen people were injured in Ukrainian attacks in the Belgorod Region on March 12 and 13.