A powerful explosion has gone off in downtown Taganrog, southwest Russia.
According Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region where the city is located, preliminary reports suggest that the explosion was caused by a missile.
The number of injured people has risen to 15. It is believed that all the injured people sought medical help with
minor cuts and smashed glass related injuries, Governor Golubev
noted.
Seven people have been taken to hospital, TASS
reports citing the Emergency Ministry.
Preliminarily, no one is trapped under the rubble.
A rocket allegedly exploded in the centre of Taganrog at 22 Lermontovsky Lane near the Chekhov Garden cafe. Rescuers are working at the site. There are no fatalities. There are several injured, ambulances are on their way. Four people received light injuries from broken glass. Information about the damages is being clarified.
Telegram channels published a video showing a funnel left after the explosions, damages to buildings, and a column of smoke. Mash
writes, citing eyewitnesses, that
there were two explosions, "a powerful one and one that was slightly weaker".112 Telegram channel published a photo allegedly showing missile debris found at the explosion site.
Mash and
Baza report that windows were shattered in buildings close to the place.
Moreover,
an explosion went off at an oil refinery in Russia's Samara earlier today, Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshteyn noted. "A bomb is believed to have been planted. Fortunately, there are no serious damages and no one is injured," he wrote.
Comment: Al Arabiya
reports:
The Russian military said on Friday it had shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog and that fragments of the missile had injured civilians and damaged buildings.
There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine, which rarely comments on attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory.
[...]
The TASS news agency reported that a person believed to have been responsible for the blast had been detained.
Parts of Russia, especially near the border with Ukraine, have often been hit by shelling or drone attacks in the course of the 17-month war. Energy installations and weapons stores have been frequent targets.
More detail of Taganrog's location:
The Russian Defense Ministry provides
more information and labels the strike yet another Ukrainian terrorist attack:
The Russian military condemns the incident in Taganrog as a "terrorist attack" on civilians
The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that a missile struck the southwest port city of Taganrog on Friday, calling the incident a "terrorist attack" by Ukraine.
The city center was hit by a major blast on Friday, with at least 15 people injured, according to local authorities.
Ukrainian forces used a re-purposed missile from a Soviet-era S-200 anti-aircraft system to target the city, the military said. The missile was "intercepted" by Russian forces, but fragments ended up falling on the city, it added.
"As a result of the terrorist act committed by the Kiev regime, several buildings were damaged, and there are also casualties among civilians," the statement said.
Footage from the scene, circulating online, shows that the missile left a large crater in the ground, with several buildings and vehicles damaged by the blast. The missile contained spherical pieces of shrapnel, a trademark of S-200 anti-aircraft munitions, and one video shows several of the steel balls being found by witnesses at the site.
"At the site of the explosion in Taganrog, a crater of 5 by 5 meters was formed. Now rescuers are clearing the rubble."
There is one heck of a lot of damage at the site - way more than would be expected if two, already detonated missiles fell from the sky.