Ukraine, Russia trade blames for deadly Kursk shelter strike

Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for a deadly missile strike that killed at least four people in the dormitory of a boarding school situated in a part of Russia's Kursk region held by Kiev forces.

"In the course of the rubble removal works, 84 civilians were rescued and provided with medical aid, their health condition is satisfactory, four are in serious condition, and four people died," the Ukrainian army's general staff said on Telegram on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of striking its "own civilians" in the town and shared a video on social media showing a heavily damaged building, as well as an injured man lying on the ground.

"They destroyed the building even though dozens of civilians were there," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

"Russian bombs destroy Ukrainian homes the same way. And even against their own civilians, the Russian army uses similar tactics."

Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border offensive into Russia's Kursk region last August, seizing dozens of villages and small towns, including the regional hub of Sudzha — home to about 6,000 people before the fighting.

Blame game

Russia's Defence Ministry said early on Sunday on Telegram that Ukraine's forces launched "a targeted missile strike on a boarding school in the city of Sudzha" from the territory of Ukraine.

Russia's acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, also blamed Kiev forces for the strike and said there is no reliable information yet about the number of potential victims.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched with its full-scale war in February 2022.

Thousands of civilians, however, have been killed during the war.

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Source: TRT