INTERNATIONAL – Kliktodaynews.com|| A powerful explosion rocked a small village in the southern city of Belgorod, Russia, on Tuesday night. Sources in Ukraine claimed the explosion that lit up the region’s skies was caused by a ballistic missile attack by the Kyiv military targeting an ammunition depot.
While there were no reports of civilian casualties, four Russian soldiers were reportedly injured in the blast. Video of the first explosion, followed by a secondary explosion, began circulating online on Tuesday evening local time.
Initial reports speculated that someone at the weapons depot mishandled the ammunition. However, Ukrainian media immediately claimed that their military’s 19th Missile Brigade had fired a Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile at Russia’s arsenal.
The head of the local area, Vyacheslav Gladkov, told Russian media that the explosion took place in the small village of Red October, about halfway between Belgorod and the Ukrainian border.
“There were no fatalities among the residents, and there was no damage to the village. Emergency services are on the scene. We will find out the cause of what happened later,” Gladkov said in a statement, as quoted by Russia Today.
The secondary explosion reportedly stopped after about half an hour.
“Four soldiers were injured when a projectile hit a military installation in the Belgorod region,” Russia’s TASS news agency said Wednesday (30/3/2022).
The attack came after Russia announced it would drastically reduce its military activity in northern Ukraine, including near Kyiv and Chernigov, as a sign of goodwill for peace talks with Ukraine.
Delegates from both sides met in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier on Tuesday and set their parameters for negotiations.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters that the main objective of the military operation had been achieved and would now focus on the “liberation of the Donbass”, referring to the two territories that broke away from Ukraine and have been recognized by Moscow as two independent states.
Moscow sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, following a seven-year stalemate over Kyiv’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk Agreement and end conflicts with the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv.
Russia demands that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc.
Kyiv insists Russia’s attack is completely unwarranted and has denied claims it plans to retake the two republics in the Donbass by force.
Sumber : sindonews.com
