“Intentional strike”: the Russian Defense Ministry announced the shelling of Belgorod and Kursk by Ukrainian missiles and drones

The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces shelled residential areas of Belgorod and Kursk at night.

“Tonight, from 03:00 to 03:30 Moscow time, the Kyiv regime carried out a deliberate strike with Tochka-U ballistic missiles with cluster munitions and Tu-143 Reis drones on residential areas of Belgorod and Kursk, where there are no military facilities” , - said the official representative of the department, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, during a briefing on July 3.

He stressed that the missile attack was "purposefully planned and carried out against the civilian population of Russian cities."

According to the Ministry of Defense, Russian air defense systems shot down in the air all three rockets with cluster warheads fired by the Ukrainian side at Belgorod.

However, fragments of one of the rockets fell on a residential building.

In addition, on approaching Kursk, air defense systems destroyed two Ukrainian Tu-143 Reis jet drones stuffed with explosives.

In turn, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that as a result of the incident in the city, three people were killed and four more were injured.

There is a child among the victims.

“According to the information that I have at the moment, four people died.

One of them is a citizen of the Russian Federation, three are citizens of Ukraine.

That is, the Ukrainian government is killing Ukrainian citizens on the territory of the Russian Federation.

This is the absolute height of cynicism that Ukraine has achieved in its actions,” the head of the region said in a video message published on his Telegram channel.

As Gladkov noted, nothing threatens the lives of the victims.

The wounded will receive payments of 500 thousand rubles from the regional budget and, if desired, will be able to go to a sanatorium later.

Earlier, he described the scale of destruction in the city.

The governor and mayor of the city Anton Ivanov visited the scene to assess the damage.

“There is partial destruction of 11 apartment buildings along Mayakovsky, Michurin, Chumichov, Popov and Pavlov streets.

And also at least 39 private residential buildings along the streets of Mayakovsky, Popov, Pavlov were partially destroyed, five of them were completely destroyed, ”Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

He noted that the authorities would conduct a door-to-door and door-to-door tour to record all the destruction.

According to Gladkov, as early as July 3, contractors will carry out all the necessary measurements and begin restoration work.

Against the backdrop of the current situation in the city, the events of the festival "Belgorod Summer" were canceled, said the mayor of Belgorod Anton Ivanov.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses to the aftermath of the shelling reported on the events of the previous night.

“One clap further, then an even closer clap, then a third clap.

I hear the flame, I was lying in the hall.

Windows fell on me, a frame, ”a resident of one of the shelled houses told RT.

According to another eyewitness, as a result of the explosion at the site in the neighborhood, "the wing turned around."

“A shell hit near the wing.

A family spent the night there: a son, a mother-in-law and a sister came from Kharkov to survive the hostilities.

A shot rang out, this outbuilding was torn apart, ”a local resident Alexei Rusanov told RIA Novosti.

According to him, he and his wife were sleeping when they heard the explosion, they ran out and remained intact, but a fire started in the house.

In turn, the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said that thanks to the competent actions of the military, there were no victims of the consequences of shelling in the region.

“Unfortunately, the situation in Belgorod is different.

As a result of the enemy attack, there are dead and wounded among the residents, the houses of civilians are destroyed.

On my own behalf, on behalf of all the people of Kursk, I express my condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

The Kursk region mourns with you,” he said in Telegram.

However, later Starovoit reported another shelling of the region, the village of Tetkino came under fire.

According to him, the main blow fell on the territory near the sugar factory.

“Preliminarily, damage to the roof, windows and facades was recorded on several houses.

There were no casualties.

Our military suppressed the enemy attack with return fire, ”Starovoit wrote on Telegram.