Two killed in Russia as debris from downed Ukrainian drone destroys homes

Two others seriously injured after debris from destroyed drone crashed into homes in Russia’s Belgorod region.

At least two people were killed and two injured when debris from a destroyed Ukrainian drone fell on homes in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to a local official.

Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said early on Thursday that Russian air defences shot down an “aircraft-type” unmanned aerial vehicle as it approached Belgorod city.

“To great sorrow, there are dead. Operational services recovered the bodies of two people from the rubble – a man and a woman,” Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“As a result of falling debris, a private residential building caught fire,” Gladkov said, adding later that the falling debris had completely destroyed one residential building, and partially damaged two others. Three cars were also damaged.

A child was believed to still be under the rubble of the collapsed residential building, Gladkov said, adding that “the rescue operation continues”.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of two people from under the rubble of a house in Belgorod after an attack by a Ukrainian drone, the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said: pic.twitter.com/pBQVwyyJuN

— TASS (@tassagency_en) October 11, 2023

Two other people, a man and a woman, were also injured in the incident and had been brought to hospital.

The man was in a coma and had suffered burns to his respiratory tract and upper and lower body, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. The injured woman had a concussion and a fractured leg, TASS reported, adding that doctors had assessed the woman’s condition as “serious”.

Russia’s defence ministry said earlier on Thursday that an attempted Ukrainian drone attack in the Belgorod region had been “thwarted” at around 11:30pm local time (20:30 GMT) on Wednesday. The ministry made no mention of casualties.

Russia has come under regular attack by Ukrainian drones in recent months, mainly in border regions but also in the capital Moscow.

According to the regional governor, Ukrainian shelling killed two civilians in the Belgorod region on Tuesday.