At least 10 people including one child were killed and 45 others wounded in a massive shelling of the Russian city of Belgorod by Ukraine, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry stated.
"In Belgorod, nine adults and one child were killed as a result of a shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces. Forty-five people were injured, including four children. Information to be updated," the ministry said on Telegram.
Earlier in the day, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the Ukrainian military shelled the center of Belgorod, killing two children and injuring some people, according to preliminary information.
He added that air raid sirens went off in the city and urged residents to take shelter. The siren sounded for at least 10 minutes, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
At around 3 pm local time, explosions were heard in Belgorod, after which black smoke was visible over the city. A few minutes later, the siren began to sound. Security services blocked the intersection of Bogdan Khmelnytsky Street and Slavy Avenue. Motorists and pedestrians were advised to avoid the area.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on Friday night, Russian air defense systems destroyed 13 rockets over the Belgorod region. The region’s governor said that as a result of a direct hit by a shell on a private house during the massive shelling of Belgorod, one person was killed and four were wounded.