The city center of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border, was struck for the first time, causing the destruction of dozens of buildings and houses.
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At 3 am, on the night of July 2 to 3, the inhabitants of the Russian region of Belgorod saw and heard on their soil which is very similar to the effects of a war, and not a simple “Special operation” carried out on the territory of the neighboring country. Since February 24, this region of southern Russia border with that of Kharkiv, Ukraine, has already been the target of bombing – military objectives, refineries and, sometimes, isolated houses affected.
Nothing comparable with this night of July 3, at the end of which the governor counted, in the heart of the city of Belgorod, eleven residential buildings and thirty-nine damaged houses. Four people were killed: a Russian citizen and three members of a Ukrainian family from Kharkiv, refugee in relatives since the start of the conflict.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the city of 370,000 inhabitants would have been “knowingly” targeted by three Totchka-U-type missiles carrying under-municipal charges. These missiles have been killed by the Russian anti -aircraft defenses. “After the destruction of the Ukrainian missiles, the debris of one of them fell on a house in the city,” said military spokesperson, Igor Konachenkov.
On videos published in the early morning by local media, we can see at least a strong explosion, whose magnitude does not correspond to the simple fall in debris. The Russian part also claims to have shot down two Ukrainian Drones Tu-143 “loaded with explosives” heading to the city of Koursk, also close to the Ukrainian border.
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As usual, the Ukrainian army did not comment on these accusations, but military experts, in kyiv, called into question this version, evoking missiles from Russia and slaughtered by the own Russian anti -aircraft defense. In support of this explanation, explosions heard in the Kharkiv region immediately after those of Belgorod.
The analysts of the Conflict Intelligence Team, an organization founded by independent Russian investigators, rather evoke Ukrainian strikes targeting military objectives and that the Russian defense systems would have diverted from their trajectory.
In all cases, the event is annoying and does not frame with the idea of a “special military operation” which, more than four months after its launch, “takes place according to the plans”, as the still repeated Vladimir Putin last week. In Moscow, the officials obviously brandished the usual threats of reprisals or “revenge”, but without really dwelling. More surprising reaction, that of the bishop of Belgorod, who called to pray so that the bloodbath which takes place in Ukraine “ceases.
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