At least one person was killed and two others were injured in an attack on the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday afternoon, local authorities said, just shortly after pro-Kyiv militias warned of an imminent strike.
Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said air defense systems shot down 10 “aerial targets” on their approach to the regional capital, located some 30 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
“According to preliminary information, one civilian was killed. At the moment of the shelling attack, the man was working at a store,” Gladkov wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
“Paramedics did their best to save his life, but he died from his injuries at the scene,” the governor added.
Glakov said one other man had received a head injury, while a second had received a shrapnel wound to his right eye.
Multiple buildings were also damaged in the shelling, including private homes, a store and an industrial facility, as well as four vehicles. A small fire also broke out, Gladkov said.
An unverified video shared on social media appeared to show the aftermath of Friday afternoon’s attack, where the corner of a building could be seen damaged and a nearby road was blackened.
Shortly before the shelling, anti-Kremlin militias fighting on the side of Ukraine urged residents in Belgorod to seek shelter, warning that they were preparing to launch “mass strikes” on military targets throughout the city.
“We call on local residents to immediately go to secure places and to not go outside until the attack is over,” read the message shared on social media.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that it had repelled a Ukrainian incursion into the Belgorod region village of Kozinka the previous day, as well as all other attempts by “sabotage groups” over the past week to breach its territory.
