Civilian vehicle destroyed in alleged Ukrainian drone strike in Russia's Belgorod

According to the governor of the border area that was the site of a deadly terrorist raid the day before, a civilian vehicle was destroyed in yet another alleged Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Belgorod on Tuesday evening.

“In Belgorod, an explosive device was dropped from a UAV onto the roadway… Bomb experts and emergency services are working at the scene,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram shortly after midnight.

“The night was not entirely calm. There were a large number of drone attacks. Air defence systems handled most of them,” Gladkov said.

He also added that there were no casualties.

The United Nations has expressed alarm over a recent cross-border strike on Russia’s Belgorod Region but has not confirmed who carried out the operation. Russian authorities have labelled the incursion a “terrorist act” orchestrated by Kyiv in order to shift attention away from its war failures.

During a news conference on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the agency was aware of the border raid and urged all sides to avoid further escalation.

“We’re obviously following with concern the reports of incident in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. We’ve seen the statements… made by officials both in Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding “As far as the UN is concerned, we’re not in a position to confirm the reports or any information concerning the groups allegedly involved in what we are seeing in the media.”

According to early information, there were no injuries in the attack, but at least one civilian automobile was damaged in the explosion, the official stated, sharing a photo of the aftermath. Other footage uploaded by Telegram news channels appeared to show the remains of an improvised explosive device.

Gladkov stated 30 minutes later that the air defences were activated and shot down a drone above the city. It was unclear whether he was referring to the same device that dropped the bomb, although he had previously stated on Tuesday that six other drones had been caught in the region.

Members of two anti-Kremlin organisations, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, claimed responsibility, but the Ukrainian government denied any participation.

The incident follows a deadly cross-border raid by Ukrainian militants, which forced the governor to briefly impose “anti-terrorism operation” regulations in the region.

Gladkov stated on Tuesday that a resident of the hamlet of Kozinka was slain by Ukrainian terrorists during Monday’s invasion of Russia’s Belgorod Region. According to initial accounts, a dozen bystanders were injured, but no one was killed.

Gladkov did not name the villager but claimed his wife was injured in the raid and is being treated at a nearby hospital.

Due to the raid, around 100 individuals, including children and the elderly, were evacuated from Kozinka and adjacent Glotovo. According to the governor, all of the villages have been totally retaken, and local officials are trying to restore utilities.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the intrusion “a matter of deep concern,” adding that the special military operation in Ukraine will continue to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Ukrainian officials said they had nothing to do with the raid, which they described as an autonomous action of the “Freedom of Russia Legion” and the “Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK).” The latter organisation, made up of neo-Nazi militants fighting for Ukraine, claimed responsibility for the March foray into Russia’s Bryansk Region, which resulted in the deaths of two people.

When asked to explain why he referred to them as “Ukrainian militants,” Peskov replied he had been quite specific. “There are a lot of ethnic Russians living in Ukraine, but they are still Ukrainian militants,” he said.

At least 70 Ukrainian insurgents were killed, and several armoured vehicles and pickup trucks were also destroyed, according to the Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday, which claimed that the assault had been repelled. It went on to say that the group’s remnants retreated to the Ukrainian land, “where they continued to be hit until they were completely eliminated.”

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