Footage circulating on Russian Telegram channels appears to show the moment a missile struck a building in Russia's southern port city of Taganrog on Friday, causing a major explosion.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said its air defenses intercepted and downed a Ukrainian missile over the central square of the city of Taganrog in Russia's Rostov region, close to the border with Ukraine, with authorities calling the strike a terrorist attack. The ministry said debris from the downed rocket damaged a museum courtyard and a café in the city center.
But dash-cam footage first published by the Russian news Telegram channel Mash appears to show the rocket striking a building in the city, seemingly escaping air defense systems and causing a major explosion. According to Mash, the video shows the head of a Ukrainian S-200 rocket.
Newsweek is unable to verify the footage and has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment via email.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the attack was carried out with a modified "Soviet-made S-200 missile" while Russia's Investigative Committee said the attack injured 13 civilians and damaged a number of houses and office buildings.
Other footage circulating on social media showed a building reduced to rubble, a crater on the ground, and plumes of smoke rising into the air in downtown Taganrog. The city is located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border with Russian-occupied regions of southern Ukraine.
Dashcam captures an apparent Ukrainian missile (reportedly an S-200) hitting a building today in downtown Taganrog. Russia’s Investigative Committee is treating the incident as a terrorist attack. Other rocket attacks were reported in Kaluga, Rostov, and Crimea. pic.twitter.com/8qfK8fDt3E
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) July 28, 2023
Russian authorities also said it downed a second missile over the Rostov region shortly afterward. Kyiv hasn't claimed responsibility for the attacks, in line with its policy of not commenting on attacks inside Russia.
Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Twitter late on Friday that "the events in Taganrog are nothing but absolutely ignorant actions of the operators of Russian air defense systems."
Russia's Rostov region near the Ukrainian border has been rocked by a number of explosions throughout the war. The latest strike comes nearly two months into Kyiv's counteroffensive to reclaim the territories Russia seized throughout the war.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence, told the Kyiv Post this week that drone attacks inside Russia will continue and increase in scale.
He made the remarks after non-residential buildings were damaged inside Russia's capital, Moscow, on July 24. Russia accused Kyiv of attempting to carry out a terrorist act using two drones, while Kyiv didn't claim responsibility for the attack.
Strikes on the key facilities of Russia's security sector in Moscow "testify to the fact that the Putin regime is unable to fully control the sky even for the protection of the most important facilities."
"Obviously, this situation will continue and increase in scale," Yusov said.
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