Russian authorities say Ukrainian missiles intercepted over Belgorod

Moscow: There have once again been explosions in the Russian border region of Belgorod following a missile alert, the state news agency TASS reported early on Tuesday morning.

The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the air defence systems had shot down 25 missiles over the region, which had been fired from neighbouring Ukraine.

This information could not initially be independently verified.

On Sunday, a residential building was attacked in the Belgorod region. According to the authorities, at least 15 people were killed. The Ministry of Defence in Moscow blamed the attack on Ukraine, which has been defending itself against a Russian war of aggression for more than two years.

However, some observers - both on the Russian and Ukrainian sides - question this account. Some point out, for example, that Ukrainian Tochka-U missiles, which the Russian authorities refer to, usually cause different damage than that seen in photos and videos from Belgorod.

There was no official reaction from Kyiv.

As a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia's border region also repeatedly comes under fire. However, the casualties and damage are not comparable to the scale of destruction Russian forces have rained on Ukraine.