Russia-Ukraine war: The footage of the blast is being widely circulated online.
The Ukrainian forces may have struck a target inside Russia, multiple publications reported. The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on for more than a month and so far, with numerically superior Russia penetrating deep inside the Ukrainian territory.
Footage has emerged from Belgorod, in western Russia, which shows an encampment – believed to be an arms depot – hit by a Ukrainian missile late on Tuesday night, The Daily Mail reported.
Breaking News – Large explosion in #Belgorod, Russia, near the Ukrainian border. The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed information about explosions. pic.twitter.com/Xd7sEhCjVQ
— Richman (@Richman_rm_) March 30, 2022
The site of the missile blast is just 12 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border near the village of Krasniy Oktyabr just outside the city of Belgorod. The fireworks were seen from Ukraine, The Daily Mail report further said.
There were no casualties, the New York Post reported quoting regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, but four Russian soldiers were injured in the missile attack, according to Russian news agency Tass.
Last week, Tass had said in a report that two men were injured when a shell from Ukraine exploded in the same area, according to the Post.
The missile strike has not been officially confirmed by the Ukrainian defence forces, but if they do it, this will be the second Ukrainian strike on Russian territory since the start of the war. The first one was at the Millerovo airbase in February, according to The Daily Mail.
According to some Ukrainian journalists, the Russian depot in Belgorod was destroyed by an OTR-21 Tochka-U ballistic missile fired by the Ukrainian 19th missile brigade, though this has not been officially confirmed by Ukrainian defence officials.
The blast comes on a day Russia announced it would begin pulling back troops from Kyiv and Chenihiv following peace talks with Ukrainian officials in Istanbul.
But Ukraine reacted with skepticism to Russia’s promise, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying they are “not naïve”.
“Ukrainians have already learned during these 34 days of invasion, and over the past eight years of the war in Donbass, that the only thing they can trust is a concrete result,” he said on Tuesday.
The invasion has been halted on most fronts by stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces who have recaptured territory even as civilians are trapped in besieged cities.
