12 May, 2024 09:53
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Multi-story building in Belgorod partly collapses after Ukrainian strike
The Russian city has come under intense bombardment by Ukraine, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said
Multi-story building in Belgorod partly collapses after Ukrainian strike
© social media
A high-rise apartment block in Belgorod has partially collapsed after a Ukrainian shelling of the Russian city on Sunday. Rescuers and volunteers are at the site, pulling people from the debris.
“The city of Belgorod and the Belgorod Region were subjected to a massive shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the region bordering Ukraine, wrote on Telegram.
A criminal case on charges of terrorism has been opened following the shelling, the Russian Investigative Committee has said.
According to media reports, several people may have been killed, though no official confirmation on casualties was available as of 12.45 Moscow time. At least 20 people could be trapped under the rubble, the Telegram channel 112 claimed, while Mash reported that seven people were killed and 15 wounded as a result of the shelling.
12 May 2024
13:53 GMT
The shelling of “peaceful neighborhoods” in Belgorod on Sunday morning was carried out with the use of weapons supplied to Kiev by NATO countries, Russia’s Permanent Mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has stated.
Moscow demands that the organization’s leadership “condemn the criminal actions in strongest possible terms,” the statement on Telegram reads.
“It is unacceptable to blatantly ignore civilian victims among Russian citizens,” in Belgorod, Donbass or elsewhere, the mission added. “There must be no double standards and political ‘filters’ in the OSCE when it comes to the Kiev regime’s obvious brutal violations of international humanitarian law.”
13:18 GMT
The search-and-rescue operation at the site of the building collapse was interrupted for a third time and rescuers had to retreat to shelter as a missile danger alert has been announced again in Belgorod, the Russian Emergencies Ministry has announced.
13:17 GMT
The Telegram channel Shot has posted a video of what it described as rescuers at the site of the building collapse beginning to extract an elderly man from under the rubble in a Belgorod residential area.
“He is pinned under the slabs but is conscious and continues to communicate with rescuers,” the news channel wrote.
Earlier, Shot reported that eyewitnesses said the man was heard screaming under a pile of concrete. His daughter reportedly recognized her father’s voice. He lived on the first floor of a building struck by a Ukrainian attack earlier on Sunday.
12:53 GMT
Russian human rights ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova has urged the international community to condemn “acts of terrorism against civilians” carried out by Kiev’s forces and to take measures to stop such “gross violations” of human rights.
12:41 GMT
The evacuation of the residential building in Belgorod which partly collapsed following a Ukrainian strike has been completed, TASS has reported, citing officials.
Ten people, who are believed to have been inside the destroyed section of the apartment block at the time of the strike, are still unaccounted for, the news agency said.
Two temporary accommodation centers have been set up in Belgorod for the building’s residents, Deputy Mayor Sergey Andreev has told journalists.
11:47 GMT
The search-and-rescue operation at the scene of the building collapse has been interrupted twice due to “missile danger” alerts in Belgorod, the Emergencies Ministry has said.
RT
Employees of the Russian Emergencies Ministry work at the site of a collapsed entrance in a residential building damaged by a Ukrainian military strike in Belgorod, Russia. © Sputnik
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has confirmed that warning sirens are sounding in Belgorod Region.
“If you are at home, do not go near the windows. Take shelter in rooms without windows with solid walls (hallway, bathroom, toilet). If you are outside, go to a shelter or other safe place,” the official warned locals.
11:45 GMT
A two-month-old boy was wounded in the attack, the Telegram channel Baza has reported, adding that the baby is currently in intensive care, where “doctors are fighting for his life”.
According to Baza, the child “suffered a concussion, barotrauma, and burns to the face, neck and respiratory tract.”
The channel also claims that a 16-year-old boy “with an open craniocerebral injury” has been admitted to the children’s regional clinical hospital. “Doctors assess his condition as serious,” Baza wrote.
So far, there has been no official confirmation of the reports.
11:28 GMT
No fatalities have so far been confirmed following the Ukrainian “barbaric shelling” of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said in an update on Telegram.
According to the official, Sunday’s attack caused the collapse of one of the eight sections of a ten-story building. There were 40 apartments in the ruined section.
“During the evacuation of residents from the affected apartments and the removal of rubble, a partial collapse of the roof occurred,” he added.
According to preliminary information, some 19 people were injured as a result of what Gladkov described as “massive shelling” of Belgorod by Kiev’s forces. Some 62 apartments in three different buildings were damaged, he said.
11:12 GMT
Three rescuers were injured in the second partial collapse of the building, which occurred shortly after the Ukrainian attack, during the search-and-rescue operation, the Russian Emergencies Ministry has reported.
11:07 GMT
A video purporting to show the moment a Ukrainian shell hit the residential building in Belgorod has been shared on social media.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said the apartment block was damaged by fragments of an intercepted Tochka-U missile.
