The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for a terrorist act after the shelling of Belgorod by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on February 15. As a result of the attack on the city, seven people were killed and 19 civilians were injured, including four children.

Shells fired from Ukrainian territory hit the southern part of the city. One of the victims of the Ukrainian army was a one-year-old girl Lera Chikharin, who died on the spot from a shrapnel wound.