A Ukrainian strike on the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod resulted in five deaths and 46 injuries, according to local officials. The incident, which occurred late on Friday, has intensified the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, adding to a series of recent attacks on Russian border areas by Ukrainian forces.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, reported that the attack injured 37 people, including seven children, who were subsequently hospitalized. Video footage circulating on social media, purportedly from a car dashboard camera, depicts a series of explosions, though Reuters has yet to verify the authenticity of this footage. The blast damaged the 97-meter Philippine coast guard cutter, Teresa Magbanua, but there were no casualties.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a "brutal terrorist act" and called for international condemnation of Kyiv's actions. The Ministry's statement also reaffirmed Russia's commitment to its "special military operation," which includes objectives such as Ukraine's "demilitarisation and de-nazification."
In response, Russia's Investigation Committee has initiated a criminal case into the attack. Furthermore, Russian authorities reported an additional incident of Ukrainian shelling in the border town of Shebekino, which resulted in injuries. The frequency of these attacks highlights the growing volatility in the region.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has defended Ukraine's actions in the Kursk region, describing them as a legitimate exercise of self-defense. In an interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag, Stoltenberg emphasized that Ukraine's right to defend itself extends beyond its borders. "Ukraine has a right to defend itself," he stated, adding that NATO had not been involved in the planning of the recent incursions into Russian territory.
Stoltenberg's comments came in the wake of Ukraine's major cross-border operation launched on August 6, aimed at creating a buffer zone to prevent further Russian attacks. The NATO chief acknowledged the risks associated with such operations but maintained that it was up to Kyiv to determine its defensive strategies.
The intensification of the conflict is evident from the recent spate of attacks. On the same day as the Belgorod strike, a Russian guided bomb attack targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. This assault, which hit a residential building and playground, resulted in seven deaths and at least 77 injuries. The attack caused severe damage, including a fire that engulfed part of the 12-story apartment block.
Kharkiv, which has been a frequent target of Russian bombardment throughout the conflict, saw a temporary reduction in strikes recently, possibly due to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk. The use of aerial guided bombs, also known as glide bombs, has increased their impact, posing significant challenges to Ukrainian defenses.
In light of the recent attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has renewed calls for Western allies to provide long-range weapons capable of striking Russian military airbases. Zelenskyy argued that such support would have prevented the recent devastation and called for an end to restrictions on Ukraine's defensive capabilities.
