A powerful explosion has gone off in downtown Taganrog, southwest Russia. According Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region where the city is located, preliminary reports suggest that the explosion was caused by a missile.
UPD: The number of injured people has risen to 15. It is believed that all the injured people sought medical help with minor cuts and smashed glass related injuries, Governor Golubev noted.
UPD2: The explosion’s epicentre was on the territory of the Taganrog Museum of Art.
“A wall, roofing, garages, and utility buildings of the museum are destroyed. The neighbouring three-storey apartment building’s windows were shattered. Nine people have been rushed to hospitals, doctors assess their condition as moderate to medium severe.”
“Sixty rescuers and 17 pieces of hardware are working at the explosion site,” Governor Vasily Golubev wrote.
UPD3: The Russian Defence Ministry has accused Kyiv of launching the missile on Taganrog. The ministry claims that Ukraine struck the city with a S-200 air-defence artillery missile. Russia’s air-defence systems intercepted it mid-air.
UPD4: Russia’s air-defence systems intercepted another missile over the Rostov region’s Azov district, the governor noted. Telegram channels quoted eyewitnesses to report that explosions were heard in the region.
UPD5: The Russian Defence Ministry has also accused Kyiv of the second missile strike on the Rostov region.
Seven people have been taken to hospital, TASS reports citing the Emergency Ministry. Preliminarily, no one is trapped under the rubble.
Telegram channels published a video showing a funnel left after the explosions, damages to buildings, and a column of smoke. Mash writes, citing eyewitnesses, that there were two explosions, “a powerful one and one that was slightly weaker”.
112 Telegram channel published a photo allegedly showing missile debris found at the explosion site. Mash and Baza report that windows were shattered in buildings close to the place.
Moreover, an explosion went off at an oil refinery in Russia’s Samara earlier today, Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshteyn noted. “A bomb is believed to have been planted. Fortunately, there are no serious damages and no one is injured,” he wrote.
