Aftermath of airstrike in Belgorod region, 31 August 2024. Photo: Vyacheslav Gladkov
At least five people were killed and 37 were injured in Russia’s Belgorod region on Friday evening in a series of Ukrainian airstrikes, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Saturday morning.
Ukrainian forces used Vampire multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to attack the city of Belgorod and its surrounding areas, according to Gladkov, killing three people and injuring 31 in the regional capital.
Multiple villages in the Belgorod district also came under attack, despite four Ukrainian drones being shot down by Russian air defence systems, according to Gladkov, who added that two civilians had been killed and another 19 had been injured, 15 of them in the village of Dubovoe.
Ahead of the airstrike, Gladkov had issued an air raid warning for the city of Belgorod and neighbouring communities on Friday evening, urging residents to seek shelter.
Earlier in the week, Gladkov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) had attempted a cross-border incursion into the region, and while neither side confirmed his claim, tensions have remained high on Belgorod’s border with Ukraine as the AFU’s incursion into the neighbouring Kursk region has shown no sign of stopping.
An attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group to cross into Russia’s southwestern Bryansk region was thwarted earlier this month, according to Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz, who reported clashes between the group and the Russian Federal Security Service on the Russian-Ukrainian border on 21 August.
